Fusion
by Ranko twin
Summary: Revision; Some elements help each other, some hurt the other. But won't it be interesting when all these enemies team up to help keep their universe alive? Sorry summary sucks
1. Chapter 1

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

_Once Upon A Time,_

_There is a world that is unseen by the human eye; it is a world where all the elements are fused together to make one country, one universe, where they can live in almost perfect harmony._

_An unseen Lord controls all the elements in our world, including Lords for the four basic elements – The Lord of Fire, the Lord of Water, the Lord of Wind, and the Lord of Earth. There are also Guardian Lords that watch over the other Clans._

_The Ice Guardian protects their master, the Water Clan, and freezes any enemy._

_The Lightening Guardian serves two purposes – to fight along side with the Fire Clan in desperate times and protect the Light Clan._

_The Fire Clan, the Lightening Clan, and the Light Clan are known as the 'Sister Clans'._

_The Light Clan is the Leader of this Universe and the land sits atop a tall mountain and watches over all. The Light Lord is the peacemaker of their Universe, without the Light Lord not only their world, but the human world as well, will go into mass destruction._

_Because every light has to have a shadow…_

_And that is where our story begins._

-/-

The young child tossed and turned in her futon as the older women tried to shake her awake; they pushed and prodded but the little sleeping form under the thick quilt wouldn't budge. "Come on you little brat wake up!" One of the maids slapped the form hard on the shoulder and immediately pulled it away and started to blow cool air on it – her hand had been lightly scorched, but enough to leave a nasty burn mark.

The child groggily got up on her elbows and then pushed herself up to her to sit on her knees'. Akane's long hair fell messily around her face and she looked at the women who were crowding her bed in annoyance; a calming red aura blazed around her body. The maids slowly backed away from her; the kid may be a smart-ass but she never hurt anyone before. "Why the hell did you burn me you bitch?" the woman who was hurt asked in disbelief; she slapped Akane on the cheek with her uninjured hand and was burned again.

"Oh my God."

"She's a monster."

"I don't want to work here anymore if that lives here."

"She scares me."

All the women rushed out of the room, escorting the injured woman to the infirmary, leaving Akane all alone in the dimly lit room; she trembled and tried to block out all the bad things they said every day and clenched her eyes closed. 'If I don't look it won't hurt, if I don't look it won't hurt, if I don't look it won't hurt.' She repeated her daily mantra but no matter how many times she said it to herself it never helped.

Akane dressed herself slowly, as if automatically, into her gi and walked down the dim, narrow hallways; the morning sun was just rising over the horizon and a pale light flooded in through the open windows. Since it was so early in the morning everyone was either sleeping still or busy doing their early morning duties.

Akane walked into the dining room and as soon as she sat down maids came rushing in and sat her breakfast down in front of her. Akane looked up at to see their faces but they were wearing thin veils – allowing them to see her but hiding themselves from Akane's eyes'. Akane imagined these women with geisha makeup on and holding puppet strings - Akane was the puppet.

"Where's my dad?" Akane asked when the maids came back in to clear her plates after she was done eating.

"How should we know?" One of them snapped harshly and walked back into the kitchen in a fast pace, her companion trotting behind her to keep up.

Akane stared blankly at the door the two women just left from; she got up and left for the dojo to do her morning training. 'I guess this is my life.'

_Wind Clan_

Little Ukyou trotted behind her father to keep up with him; he had his eyes glued to a letter he had received the previous day and continued to block out everyone that was around him, whether they were talking to him or not. Ukyou had remembered catching a glimpse of a familiar name on the letter when her father was eating dinner, and the name was… "Dad, can you tell me about Akane Tendo?" Ukyou didn't know much about Akane other than the rumors she heard about her.

The question was booming in the deadly silent hallway, everyone had heard it and stopped what they were doing to stare at the little girl who the question had come from and her father's abrupt stop had almost caused Ukyou to run into his legs. "Why would you want to know that?" He asked looking down at his daughter, trying to keep his smile in check.

"Well…um… I guess, I just wanna…" Ukyou twiddled her thumbs and the floor was suddenly very interesting.

_Ukyou Kuonji was a sweet, but a bit naïve, little girl with a liking for martial arts but a passion for cooking. She was always closed off from everyone, afraid that if she ever let anyone in they wouldn't like the person she really was; she only had two true friends that liked the real her and cared about her no matter what, Ranma Saotome and Ryouga Hibiki. But she wanted something more than what was seen on the outside but could never find it._

"Give her a break my Lord." One of the maids spoke up. "She has a right to know; Akane Tendo is not a girl you want to make friends with. She is nothing but a mistake, she was the child of one of Soun's harem and the only reason she was kept alive was because they needed an heir for the Fire Clan. The harem girl wasn't even respectful enough to stay, she left right after Akane was born; I may not like the little curse but everyone deserves a mother. The little thing is nothing but a monster." The sassy maid was silenced by the look she was receiving from Ukyou's father.

"Back to work, all of you." He boomed, he grasped his daughter's smaller hand in his and started to walk even faster then before, making it harder for Ukyou to keep up. "You shouldn't listen to them." He said, breaking the silence between the two. "You'll know more about Akane Tendo soon." He had this faraway smile but the words from the maid still echoed in Ukyou's head, making her feel very uneasy.

_Water Clan_

"No Ranma, that's all wrong, do it again!" Genma barked at his only son; the two of them had been at it since four o' clock in the morning going through complex martial arts techniques that would make grown men cry like babies. Ranma bent over and rested his hands on his knees, he sucked in as much air as his lungs could hold and tried to get his aching muscles to move. "Come on Ranma; are you a man or aren't you?" at that Ranma stood up straight and started to go through the technique again.

_Ranma Saotome was a gifted martial artist with the potential to be the best; he was the son of a commanding and abusive father, Genma Saotome, and a caring and sensitive mother, Nodoka Saotome. He always had a stone face in front of his father but on the inside he was always searching for who he really was besides the martial artist and precious heir Genma wanted from him – always searching for something more in life, something new._

His mother, Nodoka Saotome, stood in the doorway of the dojo and looked in worriedly; the little six-year-old boy shouldn't be going through such hell like things; she could have sworn that he sweated off ten pounds in just an hour. "Dear" Nodoka spoke up, interrupting Genma's so called training. "Don't you think that you should let Ranma rest?"

"Why should I?" Genma was a cruel, harsh, disrespectful man but when it came to his wife you would think that he was a different person, but training was his life and he made no exception for his wife to disrupt.

"Well…he needs his rest and strength since you two are going to the…" Nodoka licked her suddenly dry lips. "Fire Clan."

This was news to Ranma. "I'm going to the Fire Clan? Why? When?"

"Tonight." Nodoka said before her husband could say anything.

"Why?" the curious little boy asked.

"Yes Nodoka, why don't you tell our son why?" Genma asked; a cruel smile twisted on his lips.

Nodoka stood tall and proud "I'm not the one to tell him." She turned and walked out of the dojo.

Ranma looked up at his father with the same questioning expression and Genma sighed, resting his head in the palm of his hand. When he lifted his head from his hand and saw that Ranma was still staring at him he scowled. "What do you think you're doing standing around? Get back to training and don't stop until that technique is perfect!"

_Fire Clan_

After Akane's morning practice she went to the garden and sat on a decorated stone bench; she looked up at the clear blue sky and off in the distance she heard the mixed and muffled sounds of the towns' people doing their daily business in the market or the laughs of kids playing in the streets – it was all so peaceful, even though it might only be for that moment. Without warning she felt a dark, cold presence behind her that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and a pale, bony hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Eek!" Akane sprang up and whipped around in a sloppy defense stand. She immediately relaxed when she saw the person who had snuck up behind her; she place her both her hands on her hips and sighed exaggeratingly. "Hikaru" Akane mock whined. "What have I told you about sneaking up on me?" She said in a tone a mother would use when she as scolding a little child.

The sheepish blush stood out like a sore thumb on the boy's pale face and the slightest of smiles appeared on his face at Akane's cutesy look. "Sorry Akane-San, but I must inform you that your family is waiting for you in the tea room." As soon as those words left his mouth a cloud of dust replaced Akane's form.

"Kasumi, Nabiki!" Akane cried excitedly, throwing the door open to the tearoom and tackling the two unexpected girls head on.

_Kasumi Tendo, oldest sister, and soon to be Light Lord; she had the face of an angel and her beauty surpassed all, her voice was as sweet as bells and could calm any raging heart. She was the sweeter sister of the other two, Nabiki and Akane, and the daughter of Soun Tendo and Hinako Ninomiya. She was the motherly type, especially to Akane, and if you ask her if she could change anything in her life she would say, "It's perfect for me, nothing should be changed."_

_Nabiki Tendo, the middle sister, and soon to be Lightening Lord; she was devious and conniving and she always found a way to get yen, even if she had to cheat the money out of her younger sister, Akane. She had a mask of ice but it melted when with her sisters, she was always the protective one of the three, ever since Akane was a baby; she was the daughter of Soun Tendo and Hinako Ninomiya. She was dangerous for just a seven year old and no grown men wanted to cross paths with her._

"It's good to see you too, Akane." Kasumi said in a giggle at her little sisters energy, she had managed to knock Nabiki and Kasumi to the ground. Kasumi hugged Akane tightly and fixed her mussed hair.

"Yeah, it's good to be back with the klutz." Nabiki got off the uncomfortable tatami mats and popped her back; the two traded annoyed looks but they were also smiling.

"So what are you two doing here anyway?" Akane asked, getting up and helping Kasumi to her feet.

"What? We can't come here and just visit our little sister?" Nabiki said in her usual indifferent tone of her, the look she received from Akane showed that she was not pleased.

Before a fight could break out Kasumi intervened. "The reason we came was because father came to get us so we could all be together."

Well that explained why she couldn't find her dad this morning and her heart swelled with joy at the thought of spending time with some of her favorite people; but wait, Kasumi said "us" and that must mean that _she_ was here.

"Akane-Chan!" Akane cringed at the high-pitched voice that could break glass if the person tried; she turned around and saw the she-devil in all her glory, Hinako Ninomiya.

_Hinako Ninomiya, the wife of Soun Tendo and mother of Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo; she was a tramp and always wore short yukatas and skimpy Chinese dresses. She was childish and intolerable but Soun found it cute; Akane and Hinako never got along and absolutely hated each other, Hinako more than Akane for her own reasons. She was an innocent angel in front of Soun but the horns came out when he wasn't in the room. Her voice was shrill and sharp to the point of annoyance and could be the jealous and power hungry bitch if rubbed the wrong way._

Hinako bent over and gave Akane a bone-crushing hug that cut off her air. "Oh, I missed you so much." Hinako released her from her "hug" and clutched her Akane's face with her sharp nails.

"Hinako?" Soun entered the tearoom to find Hinako practically choking Akane. "Hinako, what are you doing?"

Akane smiled cheekily at Hinako in a way of saying 'busted'.

"Oh, uh, Soun honey I-I was just telling Akane-Chan…um, how…how cute she is?" Hinako said, obviously making it all up on the spot.

Akane gave her father a look that said, 'please don't tell me you believe this crap'.

Hinako waited anxiously to see if Soun would believe the story, sweating profusely. Soun stared at her curiously and then a wide smile found its way to his face. "Well isn't that nice, the two of you are getting along."

Everyone sweat dropped and Kasumi shook her head sadly. "Oh father, father, father."

Akane didn't waste anytime at all to get back to reality and get on her father's case. "Why weren't you here this morning? And why are my sisters here? What's going on dad?"

He fidgeted in his spot while he tried to find the correct words to phrase what he was going to say and soon Nabiki, being Nabiki, got tired of the awkward silence and her fathers unmanliness – look at him, he was afraid to tell a six year old girl something. "You have to go to a meeting and he brought us here to help you clean up." She said abruptly.

Akane didn't miss a beat and immediately said, "I'm six! Why the heck do I have to go to some stupid meeting?"

"Akane, it's very important that you go, it could decide your future." Soun said as calmly as he could manage as rage bubbled up inside him.

Before things could get out of hand Kasumi intervened. "Please Akane, it's very important that you go. If your not going to do it for father, at least do it for me."

It didn't take long for Akane to agree with Kasumi and they silently made their way out of the room, none making eye contact with Soun or Hinako.

_And so the two older sisters dressed their littlest sister in a beautiful white kimono with the pattern of cherry blossoms catching on fire and pinned her long hair up in decorative crystal chopsticks. The process of getting her ready took nearly the whole day; Nabiki and Kasumi put her in a scented bath and they all argued on what she was going to wear. By the time they were done the sun was going down and just in time for the meeting to start._

"Oh Akane, you're just in time." Soun said when he saw her enter the garden. He had obviously been worried that she wouldn't show up judging by the look of relief on his face and his slightly disheveled hair. "Come Akane, let me introduce you to these people."

He guided her over to where a group was waiting for them. "These are the Hibikis, Lord Ichii Hibiki and his wife Ayumu Hibiki." The beautiful couple wore friendly smiles as they bowed slightly to Akane and she mirrored their movements.

"So nice to meet you Akane-Chan." Ayumu said cheerfully, her honey colored hair matching the setting sun; Akane simply smiled shyly and nodded her head.

"Yes, I've been looking forward to meeting you." Ichii's face was stern but his eyes were warm and friendly.

Soun placed his hand gently on Akane's shoulder and guided her over to a broad shoulders man that stood tall. "Akane, now this is Lord Zen Kuonji."

Akane shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of Kuonji, they bowed to each other and only the silent conversation with their eyes was exchanged.

"Did you forget about me Soun?" Akane was startled by the last voice; she had only seen three people when she came. She looked at her father and the look in his eye held an indescribable emotional.

"Of course not Genma" Soun grasped Akane's hand almost to the point of pain. "Akane, this is Lord Genma Saotome, someone I've known for a long time."

Again Akane bowed politely to him like she did to everyone else. "It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard so many good things about you." Akane couldn't tell but it looked liked Genma was staring at her fondly, maybe even…lovingly.

"Genma may I speak to you for a minute?" Soun asked with an irritated look, Genma nodded and all Akane heard as they walked away was, "son".

Akane looked around to see the rest of the adults talking about some type of business and easily became bored; her father wanted her here but he was ignoring her. Akane made sure that no one was looking and quickly escaped into the woods, she walked as quickly as she could, trying not to snap a twig or crunch the leaves with her feet. When she was sure that she was out of earshot from everyone she slowed down to admire the scenery, the wind blew gently through her hair and a sudden peace overcame her, it was just starting to get dark and the full moon shown in the pitch-black sky like a pure pearl lying in black velvet.

As she walked on she started to hear the distant sound rolling water and the slight murmur of voices, and with her curiosity piqued she walked on; as she got closer to the murmurs she started to smell the hypnotic fragrance of cherry and plum blossoms. She pushed back a veil of veins that separated her from her destination and saw a dream – the long, silky grass was being played with by the wind and blossoms danced through the air, the smoothness of the koi pond reflected the moon in the sky like a mirror and fireflies played hide-and-seek in the greenery; she completely forgot about the voices and the owners that were watching her.

Ukyou sat there staring at Akane in rage and fright, rage because she was disturbing the sacred peace of their secret place and fright because she might destroy it and take away one of the most important things to her, her eyes wondered over to Ranma.

"Hi" Ukyou blinked and saw Ranma walking over to Akane; she jumped up and followed him. "I know you, you're Akane right, what are you doing here? Are you lost?"

"No, I don't think so, if I was lost I wouldn't know where I am or how to get back to where I came from."

'Well you need to.' Ukyou thought when she heard the last part of Akane's sentence. "Well then, what are you doing here?" Ukyou said with attitude.

Akane simply shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I was just wondering around and ended up here. If you want me to leave I will."

Before Ukyou could get a chance to cry, "Yes!" Ryouga got up and slapped his hand over Ukyou's mouth and shook his head. "No, please stay." He said with a cheeky smile. "I'm Ryouga Hibiki and this is Ukyou Kuonji by the way, sorry, she can be a bit cranky at times."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought she was a boy."

A vein burst on Ukyou's forehead and she ripped herself from Ryouga, stalking away from the three and found a spot where she could sit away from them.

"Um, Don't worry about her." Ranma said encouragingly. "I'm sure we'll all be the best of friends." He patted her shoulder friendly and Ryouga ruffled her hair in a playful manner.

"He's right."

_That night little Akane felt like she belonged for once in her life, she made friends with the two boys quickly and she was determined to make Ukyou like her_. _That night, when she snuck into the woods and found her way into the clearing, someone had followed her in the shadows._

Hikaru Gosunkugi watched on as his beloved Akane laughed and talked and shared her feelings with someone other than him. "Akane-San, how could you? I should be you're only friend, I should be the only one you spend time with. I should be enough for you and you're enough for me, we don't need anyone but the two of us. You're mine, and I'll make sure it stays that way." He seemed to melt away as thick clouds passed over the moon and when they floated away he had completely disappeared.

_When Akane came home that night she wore a broad smile and was cheerful to everyone, even the people that were rude to her – everyone didn't know why the sudden change but they weren't complaining at all. Now, Akane went to that clearing every night to meet with her friends when the moon was at its highest point and stay with each other until they could see the first glimmer of sun in the horizon. As the years past_ _Ukyou became more doubtful of the rumors she heard when she realized that Akane was just like any girl, just misunderstood; and soon Ukyou and Akane became inseparable._

_Akane didn't even notice that her young advisor, Hikaru, had disappeared without a trace, and no one else seemed to care._

_As time moved on the four became closer and more open, they could relax and truly smile when they were together – that's what Ukyou, Ryouga, and Ranma thought. Akane always was the most distant from the rest, maybe because the other three had known each other longer but Akane knew that wasn't true, she was afraid to let them in and show her the real her so she just put up a façade like she did with everyone else and took life as it was until she could find the strength to break out of her shell._

_When they entered their teens everything became more complicate – an oblivious love triangle formed between Ryouga, Akane, and Ranma while Ukyou tried to decide between Ranma and Ryouga. As the four friends grew older, Akane's hair grew longer and she would never tell them why she never cut it when her friends asked._

_Of course, all good things must come to an end._

"You're training to become Lords?" Akane asked with awe and surprise, her two older sisters were just enunciated as Light Lord and Lightening Lord and from watching those two stress she knew it was an emotional experience. "I'm happy for you." Akane smiled in delight, a small secret was held within that smile, little did her friends know that she was going to become Fire Lord soon due to her father's health.

"Well why are you telling us?" Ranma sounded like he didn't have a care in the world, he didn't like to plan ahead, he just liked to live in the moment.

"Well" Ukyou twiddled her thumbs and twirled a piece of her long brown hair between her finger. "Because, since we are starting to train we won't be able to come back for a while."

'Why did I know this was coming?' Akane thought blankly and in a single moment something indescribable passed through her eyes and had gone as soon as it had come; Akane put her cheerful mask back in place and shook Ukyou and Ryouga's hand excitingly. "I'm so happy for you! Good luck!" Akane looked up at the sky and saw that it was still dark. "Well, I think I'm going to go home early tonight, bye!" She walked back to her home blindly.

Now it was just Ranma and Akane and with their alone time their feeling grew and it was harder to hide things from each other… but they still managed to do it.

_Water Clan_

"Boy, get in here!" Genma shouted from his spot on his thrown, when his son didn't respond he shouted it louder and soon after his son came in, slick with sweat, it was obvious that Genma had interrupted his training.

"What do you want, pops?" Ranma asked, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Lets cut to the chase boy, do I look like an idiot to you?" Genma asked, not expecting an answer.

"Well…" Ranma said, trailing off, the rest implied.

Genma glared at his son and clenched his teeth. "Point is, I know that for the past eight years you have been meeting with the other heirs of the Clans, most especially Akane." Ranma did an excellent imitation of a fish as his mouth opened and closed, trying to form words, Genma didn't wait for his son to collect his words. "I also know that Akane will become Fire Lord very soon."

This was news to Ranma. "How soon?"

"Tomorrow." Genma said bluntly.

"So why are you telling me this?" Ranma asked, not catching on quiet yet.

"Stupid boy! Haven't you heard of the ritual of Fire Lords and the legend?"

_The Flame, one of the most powerful things in their world, no one knows where it came from or why it has such power, it just does. Bathing in The Flame is a sacred ritual that all the soon to be Fire Lords must go through before they can lead the clan. However, if anyone other than the soon to be Fire Lord steps in The Flame will attack and turn the intruder into what's classified as their worst nightmare._

Ranma stared at his father blankly for a second and then realization hit, his eyes widened. "Oh no pops, I'm not going to do it, I can't believe your that stupid." Ranma flipped his father off and turned around to leave.

"If you don't do it Ranma I'll put you in that pit again." Genma threatened; when he saw Ranma stiffen he knew he had him cornered. He smiled like the Cheshire cat would in the sick satisfaction of torturing his only son. "Now that you are willing to cooperate, go convince Akane to let you take some of that power from The Flame." Ranma disappeared from sight, faster than the eye could see.

_That night_

Ranma paced the ground, creating a small rut, as he waited for Akane to come. 'What if she doesn't come? Then what? Will pops be too impatient and not wait? What if she doesn't let me get the power? What if she-'

"Ranma?" Akane asked, snapping him out of his daze, she was just inches from his face and she seemed unaffected by it but it turned Ranma's face the color of her ribbon. "What's wrong, when I came you completed ignored me? What were you thinking about?" Akane asked curiously, she went over and sat on one of the rocks bordering the pond and patting the space beside her where Ranma could sit – he obliged. "What's up?"

"Well, you see I'm in a bit of a dilemma."

"Can I help in any way? I mean, that's what friends are for, right?" Akane put a comforting hand over his clenched fist and it relaxed instantly.

"Actually, it involves you." Ranma gulped audibly and started to sweat bullets. "I know that you're going to become the Fire Lord soon and I want to know if… if you could…c-could…"

Akane saw where this was going, it's not like he was the first one to bring this up. "Hell no!" Akane bolted up and turned her back to him

Ranma stuttered and stared at her in complete shock. "W-what? You don't even know what I was going to say!" Ranma got up as well and forcibly turned her around, he didn't let go of her shoulder and as he became madder his grip tightened until it began to hurt.

Akane's face twisted in pain. "You're hurting me." Akane ground out, Ranma snapped back to reality and his eyes cleared.

"Sorry" Ranma said guiltily, he let go of her shoulder and Akane felt immediate relief, she started to rub the feeling back into her shoulder.

"Why do you want The Flame's power?" Akane asked more calmly. "The Ranma I know isn't power hungry."

"The you must be thinking of a different Ranma, because people change." Akane cringed at the look in Ranma's eyes – it reminded her of something dark, something so unlike Ranma.

"Obviously, because the Ranma that I'm talking to is a heartless basterd!"

"Why are you being so stupid? You're just like everyone says, you're just greedy and you don't want to share the power!" That was a low blow, he knew that she didn't like bringing up rumors about her and you could see her flinch – like he had struck her.

"Well I'm sorry for being a good friend and trying to help you!" unshed tears glistened in her eyes and threatened to spill free, Ranma didn't seem to notice… or care.

"I don't need protection from someone like you, if you hadn't met me you would be a lonely girl who had no friends and no respect, you were just a violent tomboy! I guess Ukyou's first impression of you was right, you are a bitch!" Akane slapped him across the face and made an audible smack that scared away a few animals residing nearby.

Akane let the tears spill free willingly, letting him know how he hurt her. "You low life, get out of here, I never want to see you're face again; you're now dead to me Ranma Saotome!"

Ranma brought his hand to his cheek and stood there frozen for a moment and then walked away slowly, as if in a trance, he couldn't believe he had said that to her, so what if he was mad? It was completely uncalled for. The last thing that penetrated through his daze was the distant sound of sobbing.

_Akane trudged her way home, not even caring if she tripped or fell, she felt incomplete, she had no one left. When Akane came home, for the first time in years, she called out for Hikaru. She needed someone to comfort her and make her feel like everything was okay, like she was a little girl again, but he never answered and she finally realized that he was long gone – he had been long gone for a the longest time. She had lost everyone._

_Later that night_

"Ranma, you sure about this?" Shampoo asked, she was crouching low in the bushes watching The Flame dance and catch even the slightest shadow in it's light, like it was looking for them. Shampoo knew Ranma really didn't want to do this but when he came home and told Genma that he couldn't convince Akane he threatened to put Ranma in the pit.

"Would you quit asking me that already, Shampoo? We're going to do this so shut up!" Ranma snapped, even though his voice was sure and confident you could see his hand shake. Shampoo looked at Ranma sympathetically and turned to Mousse, he saw the look in her eyes and shrugged his shoulders in a "nothing we can do" way.

"Ranma, you don't have to do this, we can always go back." Ryouga reassured.

"You know what Ryouga, that's a great idea." Ranma said sarcastically. "We can all go home and then line up as that old basterd throws us into the pit one by one." He finished in anger and more volume than he intended. "Come on, it's now or never, lets go!" The Flame shot to life when it finally spotted the intruders but the group would not back down and they ran head long into the now sliver flame.

Ranma felt his body twist and morph painfully, he didn't even feel a burn from standing in fire and if he did it would be little to the way he was feeling now as he transformed. A scream was working its way up his throat and finally tore through his lips.

-/-

Akane bolted up right in bed. "Ranma?" she asked the empty room, she could have sworn that she heard him. "Oh well," she told herself, she let out a giant yawn and went back into the world of dreams.

_Dream, sweat dreams little hime, for these will be the last you will have in a long time, something is lurking and hiding behind the light, waiting for the right time to come out and reveal itself... _

_It's a shadow._


	2. Chapter 2

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

"Oh, my head." Ranma moaned, he sat up slowly and gently cradled his aching head in his hand. "What happened, guys? Guys?" Ranma tried to find any form of his friends but the thick smoke that hung in the air made it hard see. "Guys!" Ranma coughed up some of the smoke he inhaled and walked blindly with his hands outstretched, trying to find someone, until he tripped over something. "Damn, what the hell?"

"Squee!"

Ranma searched the ground for the thing that had made the sound; he finally found something furry and small, he gripped and brought it close to his face – it was a little back piglet. "What the?" Ranma noticed the angry look in the pig's eyes and the familiar bandana wrapped around his neck. "Wait a second…" Ranma leaned in closer and took in the pig's features more carefully. "Ryouga? Is that you?" in response the pig bit his hand and which caused Ranma to drop him. "What the hell, Ryouga?"

"Squee, Squee!" Ryouga ran away from Ranma and toward two other forms that became more visible now that the smoke had started to clear.

"What is it Ryouga?" Ranma followed Ryouga and saw that he was trying to nudge awake the two little animals with his small hoof; the two animals looked to be a duck with glasses and a purple… "C-cat!" Ranma shrieked in terror.

Ranma paused for a moment, did he just shriek… in a high-pitched voice… that didn't belong to him? He looked down at his chest and found two large mounds that weren't there before; he cupped them in his now small, delicate hands and weighed them, yes, they were real and yes, they were his own. "What the hell?" Ranma screamed to the sky in the unfamiliar soprano voice.

The scream had woken not only the two unconscious animals but also half of the Fire Clan population.

Ryouga gave him a look with his beady eyes that said, 'Nice going idiot.'

"You there, show yourself!" Akane cried from behind the foliage, her threatening spear glittering in the sun that was just rising over the horizon. Ryouga, Shampoo, and Mousse ran out of there like the devil was on their heels while Ranma was still frozen in shock. "Who are you to go near the legendary Flame?" Akane cried; she came out into the open and saw Ranma seemingly paralyzed with his clothes scorched and his skin slightly burned. "Oh my God, are you alright?" Akane dropped her spear and rushed over to her.

Ranma finally snapped out of it when she felt delicate fingers touch her wounds; Akane may have been careful but it still hurt like hell. "Ow!" she swatted Akane's hands away from her and looked at her hesitantly. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you're hurt!" Akane cried like it was the most obvious thing in the world and in this case it was.

'Oh right, I'm a girl." Ranma reminded himself, or herself.

"What are you doing here anyway? I could have hurt you." Akane asked suspiciously.

'Got to think up something fast.' Ranma panicked. "I, well, you see… m-my pets ran away and I was looking for them?"

Akane narrowed her eyes while Ranma sweated bullets. 'Please believe it!' Ranma begged in her mind.

"Okay", Akane said, nodding her head slowly, trying to decide whether to believe it or not. "Well, I guess you need help looking for them then."

Ranma jumped up and stopped Akane from getting up as well. "No, no, that's fine, I need to get back home anyway, I think they may already be there, bye!" Ranma ran as fast as she could into the thick forest and out of Akane's view before she could stop her.

"Akane-Sama, this is where you've been, we need to get you ready for the ceremony." Sayuri ran up to her in worry and started to pull her away in a hurry while she went on and on about what needed to be done; Akane's eyes never wondered from the spot the girl disappeared into.

'Such a strange girl… I want to know more about her.'

_Water Clan_

Genma rubbed his temples, something he did when he was upset or in deep thought, and finally slapped his hand on the arm of his chair in conclusion. "Well, this is interesting." He said simply.

"I-interesting?" Ranma sputtered. "You wouldn't think it was interesting if you turned into a panda or something! At least your not stuck in this cursed body!" Ranma was suddenly drenched from head to toe in boiling hot water; he turned around in anger to see Ryouga standing there with a satisfied smile and holding a now empty kettle. "What the hell was that for?" Ranma asked in outrage; he stopped, his voice was his own, when he looked down at his chest he found it flat.

"Relax Ranma, it's not permanent. If you are splashed with cold water you turn into your curse and when you're splashed with warm water you turn back to normal." Ryouga said calmly, not at all worried that Ranma would beat him up.

Genma slapped his fist into his palm suddenly, surprising the two boys. "I got it, maybe Ranma's curse may come in handy."

"Oh yeah, how?" Ryouga asked curiously.

An evil smirk sneaked its way onto Genma's lips.

_Fire Clan_

Ranma, or Ranko as Ryouga liked to call his girl form, squeezed her way to through the crowd that had gathered together to see their new Fire Lord. The ritual itself was a private manner that was only to be viewed by family and the previous Fire Lord, but what they do get to see was the new Fire Lord lighting the torches in the night festival in a way of saying that with their new position he or she will protect their people. That's why the people are waiting, just like Akane, many preparations must be done before everything begins, and the process takes up the whole day. They all waited anxiously for the sun to set and for their torches to be lit.

Ranma didn't want to be here, the last words that Akane had spoken to him was still echoing in his mind, but because of his father's stupid idea he had to be here. Genma wanted Ranma to become Akane's hand maiden and go under cover to get all the inside information, Genma was convinced that some storm may be brewing and he wants to be prepared for when it hits. But could Ranma do it? He always was a bad liar and what if Akane found out? There are many similarities between his cursed form and his original form.

Ranma was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when a deafening roar came from the crowd around her and everything that was pitch black all started glowing. Akane had stepped out on the balcony that overlooked the whole clan; she looked beautiful in her fiery kimono and her hair pooling behind her in a silky veil, even one of her simplest smiles shined miles on no end. She lifted her arms to the sky in a simple manner and all the torches and firecrackers burst to life; the crowd went wild and started chanting Akane's name. To show their respects for their new Fire Lord one person bowed, then another, and another and it turned into a chain reaction, Ranma even found herself bowing respectfully – she felt like she was under a spell and couldn't control her own body.

Soun stepped out onto the balcony with Akane and placed his crown on her brow. "Long live the new Fire Lord, may she protect you and guide us through the dark times with her bright flame." Soun cried out to the large crowd. "Now, let the celebration continue." He said merrily, clapping a simple folk beat.

Ranma sweat dropped, he hadn't realized how carefree the people of the Fire Clan could be, was it all celebrations to them?

"It's our way of forgetting our troubles." Ranma was startled by the voice; she twisted to the side and saw a tall young woman, in peasant clothes and a straw hat hiding her face, standing next to her.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"We always celebrate because we have to forget about all the cruel names we are called and all the threats of war, it's so depressing sometimes, but we can always find cheer when we get together with our neighbors and friends and just be carefree." The woman said with a hint of melancholy in her voice. Ranma flinched; this woman couldn't possibly have read her thoughts… could she? The woman gave Ranma a gentle smile and stared at her with warm brown eyes. "There is still much to come." Then she simply walked away without another word or meaning to what she had said.

"That was strange." Ranma said to herself. 'But, maybe I can be like the people of the Fire Clan tonight and just forget about it all.'

_Next Day_

Akane hid behind a rice paper screen and raised her hand to cover her mouth as she yawned loudly, she had been interviewing woman all day for the job of being her hand maiden and it didn't help that she barely got any sleep last night due to the celebration.

"Akane-Sama, there is another girl." One of the maids said from the hall.

Akane rubbed her eyes quickly and regained her polite posture. "Send her in." Akane heard the shoji door slide open and then click shut. "Hello miss, may I know your name?" The first question Akane must ask every girl.

"Ranko." Was the simple reply.

"Ranko, what a nice name. Tell me Ranko, why do you wish to serve me?"

Ranma started to worry her bottom lip between her teeth. "I want to find myself and to do something that will help another, I want to be useful. I wish to know about you Akane-Sama, the true Akane-Sama. I want to be your protector, your comforter, your shoulder to cry on, I want to be your friend." Ranma kept her head bowed, waiting for her response.

Akane pushed the paper screen out of the way and looked at the girl softly. "Out of all the girls I have met today none of them said that to me. It's a clear decision that I wish for you to be my hand maiden." Akane rose to her feet and helped Ranko up. Akane didn't let go of her hand until they had reached her room. Akane let herself go when it was just the two of them together and she wasn't under the watchful eyes of everyone.

'This plan may actually work.' Ranko thought happily. 'I may never get back the trust she had with Ranma but maybe she can truly trust me as Ranko.'

_4 years later_

"Ranko, get back here!" Akane cried, chasing the red head girl.

"No way, you're not getting me." Ranko laughed, she hopped up in a high tree and stuck her tongue out at her like a little kid.

"Ranko," Akane growled. "When I get my hands on you I'm gonna – ah!" Akane fell face first on the ground.

"Man, you sure are a klutz." Ranko hopped down from the tree and crouched down to be at Akane's eye level. "What did you trip over this time?"

"My hair." Akane said pathetically.

Ranko tried to hold back her laughter. "Again?" she asked in disbelief. "Why don't you just save yourself the trouble and chop it all off?" Ranko asked, offering a hand to help Akane to her feet.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I won't?" Akane denied the offer and got up by her herself then crossing her arms.

'Stubborn girl.' Ranko thought. "Well you shouldn't go running around with it down anyway. Come on, let's go to your room to brush it out." Ranko grabbed Akane's hand and tried to lead her to her room but she wouldn't budge.

"Ranko, you're not going to change to subject that easily, you still need to take a bath." Akane told her in a calm but deadly manner.

Ranko's left eye twitched. "I'm going to take a bath after we do something about your hair, okay?"

Akane 'hmped' and walked with Ranko to her room.

When they were in her room, Ranko searched desperately for Akane's brush that seemed to have disappeared. "Yo Akane, where's your hair brush?" she finally asked.

"Oh yeah, Hinako borrowed it." Akane informed her.

"Borrowed?" Ranko asked with her eyebrows raised.

Akane waved her hand in a dismissing manner. "Borrow, stole, it's all the same to her. I think there might be a hair comb in my desk drawer."

Ranko pulled out Akane's desk drawer and fished through its contents until she felt her fingertips brush across something cool, she grasped her hand around it and pulled the item out. Ranko stared at it in awe, she held it up to the light to watch the colors reflect off it. "Akane, where did you get this?" The beautiful crystallized comb was decorated with rubies that formed into the shape of a phoenix rising out of flames.

"It was passed down from my family for generations." Akane simple replied as she fingered her tangled mess of her hair.

Ranko smiled at the childish manner and how cute it was, she couldn't help but let a few giggles escape from her lips. Akane didn't seem to hear it and if she did she was good at hiding it.

Ranko went over to sit behind Akane and started to brush through her hair that ran past her ankles. The clear comb slid through her tangles with ease and soon it was like fine imported silk – she couldn't help but run her fingers through her hair even when she was done.

"Ranma," Akane whispered. Ranma's body tensed and his heart skipped a beat; it could have stopped all together. He took his fingers out of her hair and looked at Akane's face to find that she had fallen asleep sitting. Ranma sighed in relief that she had only whispered his name in her sleep … then blushed at the thought of her whispering his name in his sleep.

Ranko got up to go take her bath and Akane curled up on her side, dozing. She mumbled incoherent words in her sleep. Before Ranko left she heard her say something else.

"Ranma … "

He held his breath and his heart race increased.

"I'll … "

He couldn't help the large blush that grew on his face.

Akane rolled onto her back. "Kill you."

She stared at her in disbelief and sighed dejectedly. She walked out of the room and towards the bathing area. When the shoji door clicked shut Akane's eyes popped open, she glared at the disappearing silhouette in rage and whispered, "I'll kill you, Ranma."

-/-

Ranma sunk into the steaming bath water, triggering the transformation. Akane had scared the hell out of him when she whispered his name. Could it be possible that she knew about his curse? Impossible. He was way to careful to let that happen.

The rickety shoji door nudged it's way open and Ranma watched as a small black piglet squeezed it's way through the opening it made for itself. It hopped up the steps to the tub and leaped to the rim before dropping in. Ranma watched the bubbles arise on the surface of the water in annoyance, thinking if it was possible for him to even get lost in a bath. In response, a boy broke through the surface of the water in replace of the pig and tugged at Ranma's pigtail.

"Come on Ranma, we have to go!" he dragged Ranma out of the bathtub and tossed him the emergence clothes they had hidden here.

"Go where?" Ranma asked, buttoning his shirt.

Ryouga knocked Ranma across the back of his head causing him to receive a smack in response. "Are you really that stupid Ranma? We're going home!" Ryouga adjusted his bandana and shoved Ranma out the door and into the forest, neither bothering to check if the coast was clear.

Akane trembled with her back pressed against hard against the trunk of a tree to the point of drawing blood. She clutched the glass dagger to her chest, the hilt filled to the brim with water. She bit her bottom lip and slid limply down the base of the tree. She looked up at the mellowing colors that signaled the end of the day was near. "So it has come to this."

_Water Clan_

Ranma stormed down the long corridors to his father's thrown room. He slammed the door open startling everyone who was in the room, except Genma. "What's the big idea pop? I'm not due back for another month." Ranma questioned warily.

Genma stared at Ranma, but not truly at him but through him, something beyond him. "Where's the other one?" he asked.

Ranma looked at Ryouga questionably and he shrugged in return. "Who?"

"The Fire Lord, I need the Fire Lord. The fourth, the Phoenix." When he saw no one go into action he became angry. "Now!" he boomed.

Ranma, Ryouga, and Ukyou exchanged wary looks and then disappeared with a burst of speed without a trace.

_In the Dark Place_

The shadowing man smirked, his white teeth glowing in the blackness. He picked up his wooden Akane puppet and chanted a spell, his fingers pressed against her smooth eyes. When her brown eyes changed to a glowing sliver he stopped chanting. He held onto the strings that were attached to her limbs and set her on the stage.

"Let's play."

_Fire Clan_

Akane stood in the center of the training grounds, her battle kimono fluttering in the wind. Her long wooden bow with silver markings running along its length held firmly in her hand. She waited and the wind suddenly died, dropping her braided hair.

The bushes rustled and Akane locked her gaze onto them. She waited for something, or someone, to emerge from the greenery. Ranko came out, picking leaves out of her hair. She seemed shocked to see Akane standing there in that tense battle stance. "Akane, what are you doing?" she asked, walking to her cautiously.

Akane swatted her hand away with the bow when Ranko reached out her hand. "Waiting for you … " Ranko sighed in relief. "So I can finally kill you, Ranma." she finished.

Ranko's eyes widened and like moving in slow motion Akane got down on her knees and used the but of the staff to smack Ranko in the chin with it and send her flying through the air to land in a heap a few feet away.

The strange silver markings on the bow glowed and she dashed towards Ranko in a burst of speed. Ranko got back up only to be knocked down again. Akane was running circles around Ranko; she had turned into a blur. Powerful blows from the bow were coming from all around all at once, she couldn't see where they were coming from and couldn't predict where they would be next.

The onslaught stopped and like a bat Akane used the bow to smack Ranko across the back of the head.

Ranko lay on her hands and knees barely able to support her weight, her breath came out in short gasps. Black dots blurred her vision. She stared up at Akane through half lidded eyes. She looked like the Angel of Punishment.

Akane raised her bow high above her head. "Goodbye Ranma."

As the bow came down Ranko desperately reached out for her ankle. Ice crawled its way up her leg, halting the bow in mid air. An ice cast covered Akane's leg all the way up to her mid thigh.

_The Dark Place_

His eyes widened in fury and shock as the silver glow slowly diminished back to the deep soil brown. "What? How is that possible?"

The strings that he was holding slowly turned into ash and crumbled under his touch, dropping the puppet onto the stage in a heap. "No!"

_Fire Clan_

Akane fell unconscious after her struggles to free herself from her ice prison. Ranma got up on shaky legs; he hated how his girl form was weaker in his male form.

Ranma contemplated whether to carry her back to the Water Clan in his beat up girl form or get hot water now. He shrugged and hefted Akane up in her arms bridal style. He almost dropped her from the weight. He set her back down, melted the ice by placing his hand against the center, and then lifted her up. She ran as fast as she could with her injuries and still made it home in a decent time.

_Water Clan_

Akane sat up groggily with a massive headache. "Where am I?" she asked the empty room. Then stopped, this wasn't her room. 'How did I get here? Wherever here is.' Akane remembered Ranko brushing her hair and then she got tired and after that was a total blank.

She heard the door slide open and her head whipped around to see who it was, maybe that would answer a few questions, but the movement just made the headache worse. She cradled her head in pain.

"If you think your head hurts how do you think I feel?" Akane's eyes widened, she knew that voice. She turned around more slowly to find Ranma leaning against the doorframe with a peevish look. White bandages wrapped around his head.

"Am I a prisoner?" she asked, amusement lacing her words.

Ranma shrugged. "Maybe," was his simple response.

Akane studied to finely furnished room and silk clothes she was wearing. "If this is how you treat prisoners I would love to see how you treat guests." Ranma could tell she was having fun with this.

"My father wants you." Ranma skipped the argument he knew would break out if he responded to that little joke.

"Doesn't everyone?" Akane asked with fake conceitedness. Too much fun.

"Come on." He was about to drag her there by her hair.

"Why should I? What's in it for me?"

"Reliable information."

They stared at each other for a long moment; Akane searched his eyes to see if it was the truth. Akane shrugged and got up, walking ahead of Ranma. "Alright, lets go." She called over her shoulder.

The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife and the five-minute walk felt like ten years.

They stopped in front of a set of large wooden doors. Akane brought her hand up to push the door open when, like it had a mind of its own, the door creaked open.

Inside was a long table with delicacies covering every square inch of the table. Ranma and Akane were left speechless at the amount of food, it seemed to be more than enough for only six people.

"Please take a seat you two." Genma said warmly.

Akane sat at the end, across and as far away from Genma as she could manage, and Ranma sat to his father's left.

"Please enjoy the food." He said in the friendliest manner possible while drinks were placed in front of everyone.

Akane looked at the green tea suspiciously and walked over to a potted plant in the corner, she dumped the cups contents into the soil and the plant wilted instantaneously. She smirked at Genma while the others gawked at the dying plant.

Genma smiled at her, a look of remembrance in his eyes. "You have her wit."

The smirk was swept off Akane's face in an instant. She snapped her fingers and Genma's chopsticks burst into flames; Ukyou squealed.

"I didn't come here to eat Genma." Akane said, walking around the room and fingering certain objects.

Genma never lost his smile. He graciously received another pair of chopsticks from his wife and started to munch on a piece of tempura. "But the food is delicious."

Akane glared at him and a piece of sushi he was about to pick up was disintegrated into ashes in mere seconds. "Don't play with me Genma. Your son told me that you have valuable information and I want to know about it."

Genma dusted the ashes off of his plate. "Please don't destroy the food Akane, it's very expensive." He received a warning glare from everyone sitting at the table. Genma yielded slightly when seeing his wife finger her katana. "Alright," he cleared his throat. "Your sister, Kasumi-Sama, has been kidnapped," he said casually. Akane tensed. "By the Shadow Lord." He finished.

Akane felt the world around her spinning and she wasn't sure if she could support her weight anymore, instead of sitting on one of the cushions she fell onto the floor right where she was standing. Ranma immediately got up to help her but was rejected by a small shake of the head. Nothing witty or cruel, just a shake.

"You know what that means, don't you?" he asked, not only Akane, but also the entire room.

"Mass destruction," Ukyou said, always the clever one. "Not only for our world but the human world as well. Wars will break out and all hell will break loose."

They turned their heads when they heard Akane laughing. "Hell? What is hell Ukyou?"

This shocked Ukyou. "Fire?"

"Correct, fire. He needs fire to cause mass destruction, he needs fire if he wants all hell to break loose." Akane's gaze wondered over to Ranma. "Everyone wants me." She fingered her long hair as her eyes glazed over, thinking of the things he could do.

"We need to find the Light Lord … fast." Ryouga said, the last word more like an afterthought.

"Obviously," Ranma muttered.

Akane got up without a word and headed for the wide set of doors.

"Akane, where are you going?" Genma asked.

"To go get my sister." She said without turning to face them.

"You're not going alone," this made Akane turn around. "You're bring these three." He said gesturing towards Ryouga, Ukyou and Ranma.

Everyone's eyes widened. "No!" Akane shouted. "I can't bring them with me, they'll just slow me down." She stared at the three like they were vermin. "Besides, they're not even Lords yet."

"It's not their fault, it's the constant fear of war that has been preventing the ceremony." Genma reasoned.

Akane softened to the idea. It was true; changing Lords suddenly during war was not one of the smartest moves in the world. She sighed and turned back to the door. "We leave tonight, don't be late." Before she could leave Genma's voice stopped her.

"Wait Akane, I believe you have something for me."

Without turning around she said. "What makes you think I have it?"

"You always have it."

"Before I leave I'll give it to you." She walked out of the room without another word.

_Later that night ~_

Genma sat in the center of his room, his hands resting on either one of his knees. One candle flickered but it cast monstrous shadows across the room.

The room was shrouded by darkness.

Genma looked up and through the faint glow of the moon he could see the outline of a girl.

Akane opened her right fist and the flame was back in its place. Without speaking Akane tossed him the glass dagger and turned to leave. "I have to go or I'll be late."

"Wait a minute Akane." She froze. Genma held up the dagger to the dim light. "Thank you very much."

Akane scowled and recoiled her right fist, leaving the room the color of Genma's heart.

He smiled.

-/-

The small traveling group walked off and disappeared into the dense foliage. Akane led the way; the faint glow she gave off was being used as a lantern and scaring off any nocturnal animal.

While, still inside his room, Genma admired the sheen of the glass dagger in the faint moonlight. "What a beautiful sin." He whispered to himself.

_Dark Place_

He fingered the chess piece of Akane in one hand and Ranma in the other. He set them each down on the board, facing away from each other. "There was a slight delay in plans due to that pesky Ranma character. But don't worry my love, soon you will be all mine."

He took the black hourglass and turned it on its other side to let the red sand run down. An image of the glowing Akane formed and he reached out to touch her only to come in contact with glass. "Soon my Phoenix."

-/-

A/N: Sorry for the lame chapter, I've been busy. Please review, it will make my day!


	3. Chapter 3

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

_Dark Place_

He flipped through the thick storybook, staring longingly at the well-illustrated pictures. One might think that a man like him wouldn't read a book like this but this was a very special storybook. It was 'Fusion'- a special book that showed everyone's previous actions. It had endless blank pages that would be filled with what someone was going to do next when the time came.

For now he just stared longingly at the newest blank page, waiting to see where his little troublemaker was headed now.

"Are you enjoying my book?" asked Kasumi; she sat on a black marble bench across from him.

"Why yes, thank you." Of course the Light Lord would be the owner of the book. This was their universe in his hands, so to speak.

On the page black sketches were drawn onto the page in lightning speed and words were written down in a neat script. "Read it." He commanded to Kasumi.

She leaned in closer to get a good look then cleared her throat. "So the small traveling group worked their way up the Mountain of Heaven, their destination being the Lightning Clan." Underneath the words was a picture of four people climbing up a small rocky slope.

Before she could finish he slammed the book closed. "That's all I needed to know." He stood. "Kuno! Kodachi!" he called.

A man and a woman walked into the room, bowing low. "Yes, my Lord." They said in unison.

"Why don't you give the guests a proper greeting?" a malicious grin in place.

"Yes, my Lord." They disappeared in a burst of speed.

He snapped his fingers and two bulky guards came out from the hallway. "Take Kasumi-Sama to her room." The title he gave her was mocking.

She was taken away kicking and screaming, far from the usual Kasumi manner.

He sighed and stared at the hourglass picture to see Akane bickering with Ranma. "My, my, are all Tendo woman so rambunctious?"

_Mountain of Heaven_

"Damn it Ranma! Do you have to be so childish?" Akane shouted in rage as she rung out her wet hair.

"Hey, you started it!" Ranma complained, fingering his singed hair that had lost about an inch or two.

The two argued back and forth on who started what while Ryouga and Ukyou watched. Ukyou actually found this quite amusing but she would never let it show while Ryouga was more annoyed than anything else. "I think both of you should shut up before I bury you both alive." Ryouga spat.

His three other traveling partners looked at him strangely. "What?"

Ranma and Akane exchanged looks and shrugged. All was quiet for a while until a voice pierced through the silence. "You will die by my hand, evil cretin!"

Ranma looked up to see a shadow of a man holding a samurai sword, poised to attack. He easily sidestepped the attack and all the sword brought up was gravel.

"Kuno, what the hell is wrong with you?" Akane asked as the buffoon got back on his feet and regained his fighting stance.

"Defending you from thy enemies!" he cried, charging at Ranma again who just stuck out his foot to trip him.

Black rose petals danced through the air and Ryouga held up his arms in defeat. "Oh great, what is it now?" he screamed to the sky.

"It is I, Kodachi the Black Rose. I am in control of the rain in the Lightning Clan and you have defeated my brother, Tatewaki the Blue Thunder." Kodachi cried, appearing out of now where, twirling her black ribbon around.

Ranma's brain shut down when he heard rain and he quickly dashed under Ryouga's umbrella.

"Wait…" Ukyou said to everyone. "If you are in control of rain and you're brother is in control of thunder," Ukyou looked around. "Where's the Lightning Lord?"

In response to her question they could hear the clear snapping sound that echoed in the empty space. Lightning flashed from the gray clouds, illuminating the dark sky. Followed was a loud ominous sound of the clap of thunder. A fork of lightning struck down from the sky, aimed at Ukyou.

She screamed and held up her arms in defense, paralyzed with fear.

"Duck!"

But instead of electricity shooting through her body she felt the sharp sting of rocks dig into her back. None to comfortable but it wasn't deadly. She felt a weight release itself from her and opened her eyes to see Akane get off of her.

Had she tackled her to the ground to save her?

"Nabiki, what was that for?"

The lightening strike left a giant crater and the rock and dust rose out of it like a volcano about to burst. Through the debris you could see a silhouette of a woman appear. The image solidified to reveal Nabiki Tendo, Lightning Lord, coming out with a satisfied smirk cladding a very revealing hazelnut dress. "Just testing your reflexes baby sister, don't want you getting slow. And you're faster than ever."

"Yeah, but did you have to use Ukyou as a training dummy in the process?"

Ukyou didn't know if she should be insulted or not.

Nabiki shrugged with that feline grin in place. "So good to see you too Akane."

Akane groaned. "Well I was planning to say hello before you almost barbecued Ukyou." Akane complained.

"Oh it's all in the past now. Forgive and forget. I think you forgot to introduce me to your friends." Nabiki sauntered over to Kuno who still had his head in the ground, examining him closely.

"What friends?" Akane asked, shooting a glare at Ranma.

Nabiki shook her head. "What friends, indeed if you keep treating them like that." Nabiki pulled his head up and dropped it. "Kuno-baby, you're so pathetic."

"Let's see…" she got up and dusted her dress off. She walked over to the four and looked at them all. "You all have a secret that you don't want to tell each other." Nabiki grinned wildly. "Some of you have more than one." She noted.

Three of the four gaped but Akane seemed unfazed. They stared at Akane in disbelief and she shrugged. "She was born with a special ability to read minds. It's in my families blood."

"To read minds?" Ranma asked, suddenly terrified.

"No, to be born with a special ability." She clarified and the three others released a breath they didn't realize they were holding.

"Please forgive my rude behavior, please let me take you to my home." Nabiki offered and before anyone could say anything she took Akane by the arm and led the group up the slope.

When they were out of ear shot from everyone else Nabiki leaned in close to Akane and asked, "Okay, tell me the real reason why are you really here?"

Akane looked over her shoulder to see the others in a deep conversation. "You know why. I need to return the sins. He's looking for them," Akane stopped, collecting her words. "No, he needs them."

Nabiki's eyes widened. "You have them?"

"Yeah," Akane slung her leather bag off her shoulder and opened it to observe its contents. Her eyes widened in fear and shock.

Nabiki noticed this and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"The comb is missing."

_Fire Clan_

Mariko hurriedly picked the lock on Akane's door before anyone came to see what she was doing. She breathed a sigh of relief when the click of the lock signified that the door was open and no one had seen her.

She walked into the shadows of her room, it was so … plain. No, plain wasn't the word. It was sophisticated and orderly, decorated with flowers and calligraphy.

She dove to the desk and opened the drawer fast; she cringed when it squeaked loudly and turned her head to the door that adjourned Akane and Ranko's room together, hoping that she didn't hear it. She waited a minute and when no came in she shuffled through the drawer, the only place in the room that was messy, until she reached the bottom and saw a delicate crystallized comb sitting there, it shined even in no light.

She picked it up and clutched it to her chest. Her pom-pom's materialized out of thin air and she wrapped herself in them like a giant fluffy cocoon.

_Dark Place_

He sat on his throne and in the middle of his courtroom when a giant ball of fuzz popped out of nothing. The pom-poms left the room in a puff of smoke leaving behind a girl in its place. She knelt down on her knees and presented the Phoenix Comb to him. "As you requested my Lord."

He grinned like the Cheshire cat and snatched the comb away from her hand faster than her eyes could even register that he moved.

He examined it in the faded light and waved his hand in a dismissing gesture to Mariko. When she didn't receive the message he hopped off his throne and slapped her across the face. "Leave."

She nodded her head weakly, scampering out of the room, tripping over her feet in her haste.

He stared at the place where she was standing only moments ago and scoffed at it. He made his way to a door hidden in the back of the room. He lit a candle in the dark room, the dim light shadowing the hollowness of his face, making him look even more menacing.

He walked over to something in the far corner of the room. He stared lovingly at the life-size Akane doll he made that was leaning against the wall. He crouched down and caressed her cold cheek and then carefully placed the comb in her hair.

He swept the candle over her form to reveal that she was not wearing her usual garb and instead wearing a wedding kimono. "Be patient my love." He leaned in to kiss her on those lifeless wooden lips.

_Mountain of Heaven_

Akane felt a tingle go down her spine and a large gasp escaped from her lips.

"Akane, are you alright?" Nabiki asked.

Akane didn't register her words at first but then gave her a curt nod. "Yeah I'm fine, just had a strange feeling."

"How much longer?" Ukyou asked from farther back. The moist wind seemed to hug her and played games with her hair.

Nabiki suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere, standing in front of a boulder that was far from the path that was carefully laid out. "We're here."

"Where?" Ukyou asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes to see.

Nabiki snapped her fingers at Kodachi and pointed a finger at the boulder. Kodachi snapped out her ribbon and it snaked around the rock. She lifted it with ease and placed it aside, the ribbon uncoiling. Under the boulder was still nothing.

"Is this some kind of trick?" Ranma asked, annoyed.

Ryouga felt the ground pulsate under his feet. "No, there's life." He walked over to the place the boulder was and searched the ground. His hands stopped and with his strength he lifted a wide slab of rock that had been carefully placed to show that it had not been tampered with.

With the slab removed the light drone of people talking came from the wide square. They all looked down to see a large city.

"Ladies first." Ryouga gestured.

"And how do you expect us to get down there?" Ukyou asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Nabiki shrugged and pushed Ukyou through the opening. She screamed as she fell and the residents of the city seemed undisturbed by this, like they hadn't heard her. She saw the ground coming closer to her and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact but instead she lightly landed on her feet.

Ukyou looked confused, she looked up to see the Tendo sisters smiling down at her. Next came Akane, who did flawless flips through the air until she landed lightly on her feet. Then Kodachi, the men and last was Nabiki.

The ones new to this stared in awe at the city. They had expected it be dark and depressing. But there seemed to be its sun, moon and stars. Wildlife grew effortlessly and animals scampered through the greenery collected food that grew naturally. It was seemed to be the center of the world.

"What are you gawking at?" Akane asked. Nabiki and herself had already walked ahead again. "Lets go."

-/-

"So, how long are we staying here?" Ranma asked as the four were guided to their rooms by the Kuno siblings.

"Not long," Akane said, avoiding eye contact. "This is the fastest way to the Light Clan and I have business with my sister."

"Here we are." Kuno said, stopping in front of a large set of western double doors.

"Akane-Sama, Lord Nabiki requests an audience with you in her sitting room." Kodachi informed.

"Thank you," as she walked down the marbled hall, she stopped and called over her shoulder, "Don't get too comfortable, we're leaving soon." Before disappearing behind a corner.

Ranma shrugged and followed his friends into the finely furnished rooms with plush western couches, silk tapestries, smooth rugs, and mahogany tables cluttered with antiques. "Nice room." Ranma said, looking at a airbrushed painting of all three Tendo sisters. He turned and saw Ukyou struggling to stand up and fidgeting in her seat. He remembered how Akane tackled her to the ground and Ukyou's back got most of the damage.

"Hey, you okay?" Ryouga asked, voicing his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Ranma snuck up behind her and gaped at how bad it was. The fall had her sliding on that rough and pointy gravel and it had torn threw her shirt leaving her bindings seeping with blood. "You're not fine, you need to go to an infirmary."

"Hey, it's just a scratch, I'll be fine." She grabbed onto the arm of her chair and tried to push herself up but Ranma pushed her down.

"No, you stay here while I go find someone to help you. Ryouga make sure she stays here." He commanded before dashing out the doors and running down the same hallway Akane went down.

After a few minutes of what seemed like running down endless maze like hallways he slowed his pace to a walk and realized he was completely and utterly lost. "Damn it, I feel like Ryouga." He muttered angrily to himself.

"No!" Ranma jumped out of his skin when he heard the unexpected sound that echoed down the silent hallways. Followed was the smashing sound of tin hitting stone that banged ominously like a gong.

It took him a while to realize that the cry was Akane's voice and he quickly followed the sound of angry shouts.

"You have no idea how it feels to be weighed down all your life with these, these …" Akane was at a lost for words. "These things!"

"So what, Akane? You're just handing them back so he attacks them and not you."

Ranma knew that silky calm voice as Nabiki's.

The slamming of hands smack on a table rang through the air. "Don't you dare accuse me of that Nabiki! I would fight him if I could but you know I can't."

Lost of energy, she slumped into the chair across from her sister and rested her head against the fine wood of the table. She silently sobbed. "You have no idea what I have been through, it's enough to last more than a lifetime. People see me as a person I'm not, they see me as her, just because I look like her."

"You also act like her, so I've heard."

Akane shot her head up. "Yeah I act like her, because he made me to be like her. It's bad enough people are comparing me to a thief."

"But she's your mother. She cared for you even if the two of you were separated soon after. So what if you didn't have a mother growing up? To teach you everything that a young woman should now. Big whoop! Honestly, I wish I had your mother instead of Hinako anyway. I swear that tramp isn't good for anything." Nabiki shuddered as if remembering something revolting.

"My point is, she cared for you and died for you before she even knew you. She's the only mother you have and although she is different she's only human, people make mistakes. And it all was for a good cause, right?" Nabiki asked.

Akane nodded her head and Nabiki engulfed her in an awkward hug. "Until Kasumi comes back I'll try to pull of her motherly sister thing." Nabiki felt Akane's laughs vibrate through her. "Don't laugh!"

She pulled her away and saw a wide smile plastered on her tear stained face. "You better now?" Nabiki asked, truly concerned.

Akane nodded her head and got up to leave. "You have to guide us to the Light Clan fast, I wanna get this done and over with, and most importantly to get Kasumi back."

"Okay, I'll be there soon." Akane put her hand on the doorknob and Ranma sprinted down the hall, finding where he came from faster than he expected.

"Akane wait," Nabiki stopped her and Akane turned to look over her shoulder. Nabiki smirked and held up a bejeweled yen pendant, the diamonds glittering in the light. "Thanks for the gift."

-/-

"Ranma?" Ukyou asked, her torso wrapped with bandages. "Where have you been? A medic came a little while ago and said you never called for him. He was sent by Nabiki-Sama."

"Um …" he collapsed onto a sofa and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I got sidetracked."

Akane came into the room a second later. "You all didn't make yourselves comfortable did you?" She glared at Ranma when she saw his feet propped up on the couch. "Ranma, get your feet of the couch before Nabiki comes in here and kills you! Everything here is more expensive than everything you and your family may own altogether."

Ranma hurriedly took his feet off and Akane slapped him on the shoulder. She seemed more frightened of her sister's wrath than being mad at him.

Nabiki popped her head into the room and gave Ranma a look. "Don't think I don't know what you did," he gulped and sank into the padded cushions, trying to disappear. Nabiki smirked. "But I'll let it slide this once." Everyone seemed to sigh in relief, as the room was lost of its tension.

While no one was looking Ranma saw Nabiki give him the same stare and he could tell that she wasn't talking about the sofa.

"Everyone ready to go?" she asked cheerfully, Kuno and Kodachi suddenly appearing behind her. It unnerved Ranma that she could change emotions so quickly.

"Let's go," Akane said. She stood up and slipped her leather bag securely on her shoulder. Ryouga followed suit, picking up his ever present traveling bag and slipping his arms into the straps.

Nabiki guided them down the lifeless hallways and stopped at the end of the hall. She had Kuno push back one of the many tapestries to reveal an opening in the wall. It was dark and eerie looking. Nabiki unhooked an unlit torched that was hanging in the hallway and handed it to Akane. She gave a look to her sister to show that she was not amused but lit it anyway.

The light made the hallway seem endless and even creepier.

"What is this?" Ukyou finally asked, swiping away the goose bumps.

"The shortcut to the Light Clan in case of emergencies." Nabiki stated with a shrug.

"What are we standing around for?" Akane asked. She stepped into the stone hall and worked her way down it, the others falling into step behind her.

Ryouga examined the narrow hall. "Nabiki-Sama, don't you think this is how the Shadow Lord kidnapped Kasumi-Sama?"

Akane jerked at the mention of his name.

"Are you implying a breach in my security Hibiki?" Nabiki asked in a dangerous tone that would make a venomous snake kill itself.

"Yes I am." That brave man. "The hallway is straight and has no traps, someone could easily gain your trust and then find out about this and use it for their own selfish needs."

"You have to remember Ryouga, I have the ability to read minds. If something is amiss I will know of it before it happens."

She did have a good point. Ryouga didn't respond and Nabiki took that as a sign of victory. The rest of the walk was silent.

They stopped when they saw the small flicker of a white light from far away.

"This is where I must leave you." Nabiki said, almost regretfully.

"It was nice seeing you again, if only for a little while." Akane held out her arms and hugged her sister. She patted her back and they detangled themselves from each other.

"Lets just stick with the fights." Nabiki offered.

"Agreed."

Nabiki looked at the three others and grinned cheekily. "When you have an urge to visit … don't." She walked back to where they had come and gave Ranma a passing glance.

The four stared after her until the light of the torch disappeared.

"Come on," Akane said, walking with greater enthusiasm towards the small flicker of light.

_Dark Place_

"We have brought her my Lord." The Kuno siblings said in unison. Nabiki lay in front of them in a heap, unconscious.

"Well, who would've thought that you two mindless idiots were good for something." He said snidely. "Now get the pendant and take her to her cell. I'm sure Kasumi has been dying to see her sister again."

"Yes my Lord." Kodachi ripped the necklace from around her throat and walked up to put it in his hands.

Kuno slung the slim girl over his shoulder and carried her out, his sister soon following after him.

"So close, yet so far." He clutched to the necklace like a lifeline.

He picked up the Nabiki chess piece and took it off the board, aside with the Kasumi piece. He leaned back and intertwined his fingers together. "What fun."

-/-

A/N: The ending moments are stupid, I know. It's late and I'm tired so cut me so slack, please. Sorry for the shortness, it's like with each new post the chapters get shorter but like I said, "It's late!" Anyway, that bit with the Shadow Lord was creepy but you have to admit it was pure gold! I'm proud of myself, I updated fast! REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

"What's your name?" the young man asked.

"Kimiko," was the girl's simple reply.

"No last name?" He received a shake of the head from the girl. "Well Kimiko, I'm – "

"I know who you are," she interrupted. "Everyone knows who you are. You're the Fire Lord, Soun Tendo."

"And everyone knows who you are too. You're that famous thief." He thought for a moment. "Strange name for a thief."

Kimiko ignored that last remark. "I've become famous?"

"Yes you have," he stuck a crystallized comb in her long curly hair. "No wonder you steal, these treasures suit you perfectly."

She took the comb out of her hair and studied the ruby Phoenix.

"What is this place?" Soun asked, changing the subject.

The breeze lifted her hair to fly behind her; she tucked a strand behind her ear. A look of peacefulness over came her features as she stared longingly at the clearing they were standing in. "My paradise."

Soun awoke from his dream by a knock and found that he was not standing in a clearing with a girl and instead lying in bed alone. Another knock sounded and he groggily pulled himself out of bed. He popped his sore muscles that were rearranged from sleepy on them. Another irritated knock came. He sighed and opened the door to find a tired and upset servant on the other side.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you Soun-Sama but your youngest is here with guests."

Surprise sparked Soun's dull and tired eyes. "What? Where is she?"

"They're waiting in the guest wing."

"Alright, I'll be there in a moment." He shut the door, not waiting for a response, and got dressed in his muddy green training gi.

The halls were bustling with activity, people were on their guard ever since the kidnapping and everyone was thinking up strategies to get their Lord back. Soun truly missed her and he blamed himself for not being careful enough. Someone should always be watching the Light Lord at all times.

He turned to corner to the guest wings and one of the walls was blasted into splinters. Soun froze and so did everyone else in the hallway. The dust settled slightly and you could see the silhouette of a boy and a fireball cut through the smoke.

"Ranma! You take that back!"

"Why? It's the truth!"

"Will both of you calm down?" Four yellow and black striped bandanas flew through the air, separating the boy and girl silhouette who were wrestling with each other.

"Look what you three did!" Another voice rang through the air and a gust of wind cleared away all the smoke revealing that four teenagers who were the cause of the trouble.

Three of the four looked familiar but Soun knew one of them. "Akane!"

She turned to see who had called her name. "Soun?" she scanned him up and down. "I was actually hoping not to run in with you. I thought you would have already got up, ate your breakfast, took your medicine, and went back to bed for the rest of the day just to start that exciting process all over again."

Everyone cringed at the rude remark but Soun. "Akane, that is no way to treat your father."

Akane's battle aura flickered and Ranma, Ukyou and Ryouga slowly backed away. "Father? I don't think I have a father. Yeah, he died three years ago when he left his fifteen-year-old daughter to be with his two eldest daughters because he decided he loved them more than me. He thought that I had grown up as much as I could, that I was an adult. So he left behind a fifteen year old with no family."

"Then why did you come here?" he asked.

"Why do you think? Where's Hinako?"

"Mother." Soun corrected.

"No, my mother also died when my father decided he was done with her. I'm not going to call Hinako my mother because she isn't. If you're not going to tell me where she is I'll find her myself. " Akane walked past him and bumped shoulders with him.

Ukyou followed after her and Ryouga and Ranma moved to walk after them but a pair of hands stopped them. The turned and saw pissed off servants holding out brooms to the two of them. They got the message and grimly started to clean up the mess they made.

"Hey Akane, wait up!" Ukyou called, trotting to catch up with her long strides. Akane stopped and turned around to let Ukyou catch up with her.

"What do you want?"

Ukyou stopped; she didn't really know why she followed her. "Um, w-where you going?" Not the smartest thing to say.

Akane stared at her strangely. "What kind of answer is that?"

"I don't know," Ukyou said helplessly. Akane rolled her eyes and turned to walk away but Ukyou stopped her by placing her hand over her shoulder. "I don't know what to say to you anymore. It's been so long and you alienated yourself from everyone. You've changed. You're not the Akane I've learned to love as a friend and as a person."

Akane searched Ukyou's eyes. "Lovely speech but you must be thinking of a different Akane, because people change." She shrugged her hand off her shoulder and stalked off.

Ukyou stared at her retreating back. She wanted to run after her and she wanted to yell some sense into her, but she couldn't move her legs. So all she could was watch her as her hair swayed from side to side.

-/-

"Hinako!" Akane shouted, she slammed the tall wooden doors open with a big bang. It startled all the workers and that over dressed doll sitting on her sister's throne. Akane crossed her arms and cocked her eyebrow at the woman. "I knew I would find you here." Hinako was a disgusting sight to see with her slutty Chinese dress with large slits on both sides all the way to her hip. Makeup covered her face in layers, making her look like a clown, and a pearl crown sat on her brow.

Akane shook her head sadly. "You're pathetic."

"What do you want bitch?" she asked snidely.

Akane smiled at the rude remark, taking it with pride. "Language Hinako, remember who the adult is supposed to be," Akane put a finger to her chin in mock thought. "Oh wait, not you."

"I don't have time for you." Hinako waved her hand like she was shooing away a pesky fly.

"But you have time to sit on your lazy ass?"

Hinako scowled at her. "Cute, if you just came to insult me than leave."

"Actually I came to use the Mirror." Akane said, suddenly serious.

Too easy. "Why? All you're going to see is an ugly face staring back at you."

Akane mock laughed and even wiped away a fake tear. "You're so funny, but I'm serious."

"Is it important that you use it?" Hinako asked in a sugar-toned voice that would make your teeth rot out just listening to her.

"Yes."

"Too bad."

Akane didn't look shocked by this, it seemed that she was expecting this. She sent her a death glare before turning to leave. Hinako knew she won the battle but she didn't win the war.

_Dark Place_

He stared at the hourglass picture as Akane lied her head down on her pillow and fell into a deep slumber in an instant. "Such a pretty face." He caressed the glass. He tore his eyes from the image and looked down at the male kunoichi kneeling in front of him, his hands manacled behind his back.

"Konatsu, I have a task for you."

Konatsu's eyes slid over to the image of the sleeping Akane and understood. "You kidnapped me from my Clan so I can send dreams to your enemy?" he asked. He had to force himself not to laugh.

"Not just any dreams, I want you to send her dreams that will show her I am in power and always one step ahead of her." His eyes locked onto her image once more. "To show her I am watching her always."

"Alright, so what dreams do you want me to send her?"

_Light Clan_

Akane stood in the center of a demolished shrine. The wind blew through her long locks; playing with her and pushing her to the direction it wanted her to go. She listened, feeling jetty, and practically ran with the wind.

She giggled and ignored the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes shined with happiness but she had no pupils, just voids of chocolate.

The wind quit pushing her when she stopped in front of a mirror that was not destroyed with the shrine. Its frame was a golden bronze and vines that had squeezed through the crack in the ground wrapped its way up the frame.

She stared at her reflection in delight; she hadn't seen herself this happy in a long time. But her reflection started to morph and change in front of her. Her straight hair bounced with curls, her look of joy changed to an emotionless face and her eyes changed to a look of forlornness.

She touched her hair to find it was still straight. She raised her hand and her reflection followed. She placed her hand on its smooth surface and her reflections hand pressed against her, intertwining their fingers, like the mirror wasn't even there.

The smallest of smiles crossed the reflections lips but her eyes remained the same. A panicked feeling welled up in Akane and she became aware of the knot in her stomach. She tried to pull her hand away but her reflection had a hard grip and wouldn't let go, she just held on tighter – to the point of pain

"What will they think of you?" Akane shook her head, still struggling to free her hand.

"You can't hide it forever. You can't hide who you are and you can't hide the truth."

Akane used her other hand to tug at her wrist and finally pulled it free, she fell back a few steps from the force of it. "Leave me alone!" She felt a breeze on the back of her neck and her eyes were a blank void.

She raised her hand and felt the fringe of where her hair was cut. She looked down and in the reflections hand was her long hair.

"You can't hide it."

She backed up one step, then another, and then she had turned around and took of into a sprint in the other direction. The playful wind turned rough and tore at her. She felt the ground crumble and it collapsed under her feet. She fell and reached for anything to grab onto and gripped the edge tightly.

She looked under her and saw a fiery pit of hell waiting for her.

She heard the sound of footsteps and relief flooded her heart but then it sunk when she stared up at her worst nightmare.

"This is my game."

He stomped on her hands and she fell with a loud scream.

Akane bolted up in bed with a scream and toppled off, bumping her head. "Ow." She rubbed the sore spot where she was hit.

She looked around the room and sighed in relief. It was just a dream. She wasn't falling into hell, she was safe. But for how long?

-/-

"Finally done." Ranma said in joy at being free from the hawk like gaze of those servants.

"We wouldn't be done so quickly if it wasn't for Ukyou. Speaking of which, did she seem upset to you?" Ryouga asked with concern.

"I don't know," Ranma said, stopping in the middle of the hall. "She seemed kinda quiet, maybe we should ask her later." He leaned his back against the hall and went toppling backwards, the wall had just opened.

"Woah," Ryouga said in awe, stepping into the opening, ignoring Ranma. "It's a secret study."

"Thank you Ryouga for establishing that." Ranma said sarcastically, pushing himself off the floor.

When Ryouga didn't respond to the jab he stared at his face to see his mouth gaping and his eyes wide and unblinking.

"Ryouga?" Ranma waved a hand in front of his face and knocked on his forehead lightly. "Anyone in there?"

Without looking at him, or changing his facial expression, Ryouga held up a finger to point at something.

Ranma followed his finger and copied Ryouga's dumb expression. Ranma couldn't believe he had missed that giant portrait that hung on the wall. The painting was of a woman with long curly hair that fell past her ankles, a wonderful prideful posture, a friendly smile, and deep chocolate eyes . . . but they looked so sad.

Even though the hair was curly and the eyes were sad there was no question on whom the woman looked like.

"It's Akane." Ranma said in awe.

A low throaty chuckle came from behind the two boys and they spun in surprise, readying their bodies for battle. But whom they found behind them was Soun Tendo.

"You're close." Soun said, walking past them and to the portrait.

"What do you mean?" Ryouga asked.

"She's Kimiko, Akane's mother. She's my free bird, my true love, and the thief of my heart." He stared at the portrait lovingly and with a hint of regret.

"If you loved her so much then why did you kill her?" The three men turned around and saw Akane standing in the doorframe. Her cheeks were flushed with rage and her eyes were full of pure unfiltered hatred.

Two of the three stared in shock while Soun stared her dead in the eye.

"What do you mean Akane?" Ranma asked in a dead serious tone.

When Akane realized what she just said, her hand went to her mouth. She was not about to explain this to Ryouga and Ranma. They would just think worse of her.

Before anyone could ask any more questions she dashed out of the room. Ranma ran after her but when he went out to the hallway she was already gone. He walked back in the room with his shoulder set squarely. "What did she mean by that Soun?" Ranma asked, he was done playing games. He was tired of not knowing things.

Sound smiled and walked past the two boys. He looked over his shoulder. "If I told you that would ruin the fun."

-/-

Akane ran down hall after hall, not even bothering to see where she was going until she ran into someone.

"Akane?" Ukyou asked, concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I need your help. Come with me." She grabbed her by the wrist and dashed down the hall with Ukyou in tow.

She stopped at her guest bedroom and slid it open quickly, then locked it behind them.

"Akane, what's wrong?' Ukyou asked, huffing her breath. Who knew Akane could run that fast.

"We came to the Light Clan because it's easier than traveling days from Clan to Clan. You can be transported to any place you wish by a mystical item known as the Mirror. But that bitch Hinako won't let me use it, so the four of need to sneak in too use it." Akane wasn't even winded.

"So why do you need my help?" Ukyou asked slowly.

"We need to set a diversion in any way possible. By a small kitchen fire, a leak, an earthquake, or some windstorm, I don't know. It's watched over twenty-four/seven so even if we have to start a fight, this is important. We need to leave soon." Akane sounded panicked and agitated.

Ukyou's heart went out to her.

"Well, first, we need to get Ranma and Ryouga to discuss this."

Akane looked wary for a moment but nodded her head, agreeing with her

_Later ~_

The four crowded in Akane's room, reviewing the plan. Akane tried to avoid eye contact with Ranma was much as possible. "So, Ranma is going to start a small flood in the throne room while Ukyou blows open the windows, scattering papers sending everyone in a frenzy. Simple right?" She received a nod from both of them.

"While everyone is running out Ryouga and I will get the key from Hinako that is usually asleep at that time. You'll meet us at the back of the throne room where there should be a door hidden behind one of the drapes. We unlock the door, get to the mirror, and get the hell out of this place."

Ukyou raised her hand like a schoolgirl. Akane cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why do you want to get out of here?"

"I just don't like this place without its light." They all knew that she was referring to Kasumi when she said the light but they also knew that wasn't the real reason why she wanted to leave.

The four waited in awkward silence for the sun to set and to put their plan into action. And when the light that flooded in through Akane's window began to mellow out into a calming orange they got up to get in position.

Before Akane could leave Ranma grabbed her by the wrist. "Tell me Akane. How did Soun kill Kimiko, your mother?"

Akane didn't look at him and jerked her wrist out of his grasp. "That's none of your business. Get in position." She walked away from him quickly.

"Hey Ranma?" Ryouga asked, clamping his hand on his shoulder. "You are going to make the water warm aren't you?"

Ranma flinched, he had forgotten about their curses. "Damn it, I'll try."

-/-

The servants and advisors worked hurriedly, wanting to get their work done fast so they could leave, when suddenly the windows burst open and a large gust of wind scattered the papers all across the room. They jumped and dove trying to catch them all but the wind never ceased, and if they didn't know any better they would have thought the whistle of the wind were giggles.

Water leaked from the ceiling and the windows, which confused them, it wasn't raining outside. The steady drip of water turned into a mini waterfall, flooding the room with water and destroying documents. The water was knee deep.

They all ran for the door and burst it open, the water streaming out into the hall. They ran in different directions looking for help. Which was Ryouga and Akane's sign to move.

They waited in the hall just outside of Hinako's door, trying to look normal. During the frantic activity they slipped into the room and closed it quietly behind them.

They walked in the find Hinako sleeping soundly, her chest rising up and down steadily.

"Do you even know where she hides the key?" Ryouga asked in a whisper.

"All I know is that it's in her room where no one would bother to look." Akane swung the door to Hinako's closet open and she couldn't believe how huge it was. Who needs this much closet?

She pushed through the racks of clothes and found a door hidden behind her thick winter clothes. It was a simple western door with a gilded doorknob. She laid her hand on the knob and a tingle shot up her arm and down her back. She bit her bottom lip and swung the door open. Her eyes widened and her jaw hit the floor. "No way in hell."

"Akane I found it." Ryouga called from the frame of the closet door. Akane quickly slammed the door shut and went to follow Ryouga out of the room.

They treaded through the ankle deep warm water to where Ranma and Ukyou were waiting for them. Ryouga gave Ranma a look of gratitude.

"Got the key?" Ukyou asked.

Ryouga held it up for the two to see with a cheeky grin.

Akane snatched the key from him and pushed back one of the many curtains that lined the walls. "Good job, you found it." Sarcasm dripped from Akane's lips.

She placed the key in the keyhole and it unlocked with a loud clank. They all turned around at once to see if anyone had heard. They held their breath for several beats and then released it when they realized no one was there. The door creaked open on un-oiled hinges. They quickly dashed into the room and shut it closed behind them.

The room was dark and they couldn't see their hands even when they held it up to their faces.

"This is great, how are we going to find the damn thing if we can't see anything Akane?" Ranma asked snidely.

"Easy, if we can't find it with our sight than we'll find it with our touch. We just walk around with our arms outstretched until we find it." Ranma felt Akane's presence leave him and he followed her directions by holding out his arms and walking around blindly.

"Ow, Ryouga that was my foot!"

"Will you watch where you're going?"

"I can't watch anything because I can't see!"

"Will the two of you quit acting like children for once!"

"But he started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Both of you shut up. Do you want someone to hear us?"

"I think I found it."

A bright blue light lit the dark room. Ukyou's hand lay on the cool surface of the mirror and with the new light you could see Ryouga and Ranma trying to wrestle each other to the ground. Akane and Ukyou looked at the two boys strangely.

"So . . ." Ukyou dragged out. "How do we use this thing?"

Akane walked over to stand by her. "Simple, one of us stares at the mirror and imagines the place we want to go." The four exchanged looks. Akane pushed Ukyou to the side lightly and placed her own hand on the mirror.

She zoned in on her reflection and in her mind imagined the place she wanted to go. Her irises disappeared and her reflection was replaced with a picture of white.

"What the hell?" Ryouga asked.

"Its nothing." Ukyou stated.

Ranma looked at it for a moment and then his eyes widened in realization. "No, it's the Ice Clan."

Snow swirled around them and they were encompassed by the whiteness. The mirror disappeared and they were standing in the middle of cold nothingness.

_Dark Place_

His laughter boomed down the quiet and dead halls. He looked at his chessboard in amusement and moved four pieced forward.

"My, my, that sure was fun." He thought back to their diversion and laughed again. He examined the place of each piece. "She's getting closer, but the amusing part is that she thinks she can checkmate me."

He grabbed two pieces that were on the side and placed the two in front of the four, blocking their way. "It's time to put out a new pawn, Mikado and Azusa."

-/-

A/N: Can I get some praise for updating so fast? Woo-Hoo! Anyway, hope you like it. I tried to lighten the mood by adding some random funniness in there. But I tried to give you guys some more information without being too obvious. Review, but no flames please.


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

A/N: To see some of the things that I can't explain in my stories check my profile for images, especially for the ice bindi that will be mentioned in this chapter.

-/-

_Ice Desert_

The snow swirled around them in a wild frenzy, like it was alive. Yuki-Onna played tricks on them, ceasing the wild blizzard just to start it up again. The snow and ice crunched beneath their feet. When Akane took a step the ice melted an inch only to have it literally grow back the second she stepped away.

The ice fairies that controlled the wind played with Ukyou's hair, no matter where she went the wind would always find her. "This is a great idea!" Ukyou yelled over the snowstorm. "Take us to the Ice Clan, that's just perfect! Thank you so much Akane!"

Akane's red battle aura flared up, melting snow before it could reach her. "Will you shut up? If you have a better plan, go ahead and tell us! Amuse me!"

"P-plan? How is this a plan, Akane?" Ukyou asked, outraged, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Um," Akane thought for a second. "I haven't figured that one out yet." She said dumbly.

Ukyou sighed. "This is hopeless! And you call yourself the Fire Lord?"

The two girls fought back and forth while the two men stood there irritated. A vein burst on Ryouga's temple and Ranma tried to rub the headache away. Ryouga growled low in his throat when they started throwing punches. His canine teeth showed as he snarled out, "Enough!"

The blizzard died.

The two girls drew their attention away from their argument and focused on Ryouga.

"Listen to me, both of you! Ukyou, Akane is the only experienced Lord here so we must listen to her." Akane looked at Ukyou smugly. "But Akane, that gives you no right to boss us around! If someone has a better idea you need to acknowledge it, understand?"

The ice crackled beneath Ryouga's feet. Akane's eyes were drawn there as she stared in awe and shock.

"And another thing," Ryouga said, his chest puffed out. He was on a roll.

"Ryouga?" Akane tried to get his attention.

"We all haven't all been together for years so we have to –"

"Ryouga?"

"Make this –"

"Ryouga?"

"Work –"

"Ryouga?"

"Agai –"

"Ryouga?"

"What is it Akane?" He finally asked in annoyance.

She smiled in pride and went to kneel by his feet. She dusted away the snow and shards of ice. Everyone, including Akane, gaped at what they saw. Through the thick layer of ice they were walking on vines tried to squeeze their way to the top. There was a long dragged on silence as they tried to register what that meant.

"How is that possible?" Ranma finally asked. "There is no land beneath the ice."

Akane pushed herself to her feet and dusted her hands off. "Well, that's definitely not true." Akane pointed to the vines as they continued to their destination, not giving up. "There's your proof."

"How?" That was the only thing Ukyou could say at the moment.

"I've read something about this before, but I didn't think it was true." Akane said, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

"Well, tell us!" Ryouga said desperately.

"When I was little I read a storybook my sister owned. It said something about before the Water Clan and the Earth Clan became allies they had a war. In the story the Earth Clan had a Guardian Clan."

"What? But it was never registered in the books that the Earth Clan ever had a Guardian." Ukyou said, stopping Akane.

"You didn't let me finish. Anyway, the Water Clan won and as their prize they gained control of the Earth Clan's Guardian. And so, that is how the Ice Clan came to be, and all the records of the Earth Clan's Guardian were erased." Akane studied everyone's faces. "Now I'm finished."

"That is just . . ." Ranma started.

"Unbelievable." Ryouga finished. "And you read this from a storybook?" He asked Akane.

She scratched the back of her head. "Well, a very special story book."

Akane caught something from the corner of her eye. She looked at Ranma suddenly and said, "Duck."

He crouched down and covered his head, checking the sky for lightening.

Akane pointed and said, "No, duck."

Ranma followed her finger and before he could react a white duck flew down at him at full speed and drove his bill into his forehead. He was knocked to the ground from the momentum and rubbed the throbbing spot on his head.

He burst to his feet. "Damn it! You stupid duck! I'll make a stew out of you!" Ranma cried as he chased the duck in circles. It quacked and flailed its wings.

A whistle rang through the Ice Desert and the duck and Ranma stopped. "Mousse!" They all turned to see that a busty purple haired girl was the one who whistled. The duck quaked again and flew into Shampoo's arms. She stroked the duck's head all the way to his neck where she squeezed his thin neck in her hand, choking him.

She shook the duck in anger and cried in broken Japanese, "You no attack airen Mousse!"

The duck quaked out chokingly, sounding like it was begging for mercy.

The four travelers sweat dropped. Akane leaned in to whisper in Ranma's ear. "So . . . this is the famous warrior of the Ice Clan?"

He nodded pathetically.

The click of something hitting the ice stopped the girl and duck. Everyone was focused on the sound and where it came from.

"My, my, my, who do we have here?" The clicking grew louder and there seemed to be a pattern to it. Since there was no wind and no snow it was easy to see the shriveled up old woman hopping over to them on a wooden cane, the source of the clicking. Her long hair was silver and fell to mid center of the cane. Her small hands were swallowed up in the voluminous sleeves. Her beady eyes burned through even the souls of even the strongest willed. Her frame was small but she towered over the tallest of men.

She stopped in front of the small group and gave each individual looks. She finally turned to Shampoo. "Shampoo, what is going on here?" she asked in a calm manner that unnerved them all.

"Stupid Mousse attack Ranma-Sama." She shook the duck once more to emphasize her point.

Cologne shook her head and took Mousse from Shampoo. She set the duck on the ground and chased it away with her staff. "I'm sorry son-in-law." Ranma gave Cologne a look and she chuckled in amusement. "Well, you have an interesting traveling group don't you? You all must be cold," she said.

"Obviously." All heads turned to Ryouga; he was the only one who was shivering.

Cologne chuckled again. "Come with me and I will take you all to our village." She snapped her fingers at Shampoo. "You go help Mousse." She commanded.

Shampoo bowed respectfully and said, "Yes Great-Grandmother."

Not long after Shampoo had left them the group of five left to follow her. Cologne wore an ever-present grin that made them all uneasy. The walk was silent and the only sound made was the whistle of the wind and the click of Cologne's cane. "It has been to long Ranma." Cologne said after the long silence. She seemed to be completely comfortable with all of this.

"Y-yeah, I haven't seen you since . . ." Ranma stopped, even he couldn't remember.

"Four years ago." She said with a grin.

Ranma thought for a moment, what happened four years ago? His eyes widened in realization and Cologne smiled. Ranma's eyes darted over to Akane to see if she may have caught on but she paid no interest in their conversation.

"You too Akane," Cologne said. "I haven't seen you since . . ." Cologne halted in her words and laughed childishly when she saw the look on Akane's face. "My mistake, that was someone else." She laughed again.

Ryouga and Ukyou didn't pay much heed to the conversations that were exchanged but Ranma tried to piece together the puzzle pieces. He needed to talk to Cologne and get some answers. This was an unreal situation, right when he thought he had it figured out Akane brought another piece into play. He just knew that she was enjoying this struggling adventure.

_Dark Place_

He clapped his hands slowly as he stared on at Ranma through his hourglass. "Very good Ranma. You have the pieces in front of you, but can you put them in the right place?"

He played with the two puppets of Akane and Ranma, making them fight each other. He set the Ranma puppet down and stroked Akane puppet's hair. "Tsubasa?" he asked the cross dresser in front of him. "Are you done?"

"Yes, but let me just say you are a very greedy and pitiful man to kidnap so many people just to have it your way." He said in a spiteful tone.

The man ignored the comment and instead focused on the coal sketch of Akane he drew. Who would have known that the strange boy could have such an artistic talent?

"Anything else you want me to draw?" Tsubasa snarled out.

He looked down at the two puppets.

_Ice Clan_

Ranma stared at Akane's hair as it swayed back and forth as she walked. She looked so much like her mother and it seemed that she suffered hell from being compared to her from what he heard when listening in on Nabiki and Akane. But why? Just because they looked alike? That couldn't be it. Did Soun say her name was Kimiko? And what was with those different names like the thief of his heart?

Akane said something similar to that in Nabiki's sitting room about her being compared to a thief. He had never heard of a thief in their world . . . ever.

But maybe he could ask Cologne, she has been around much longer than him and she must know something. Scratch that, she did know something. Especially with the way she messed with Akane when she came.

'Akane, what happened to you?" he asked himself. His head filled with images of the young, cheerful Akane who would play and laugh all night. So small and so innocent, she didn't have sins then. Or did she?

_"You have no idea how it feels to be weighed down by these, these . . . these things!"_

What did she mean when she said 'things'?

The old Akane was replaced with this new Akane that came into their lives by what seemed to be force. But it could it be Lady Fate playing with their lives? Akane had that same look of pain in her eyes from this Kimiko from the picture.

"Ranma?" He was snapped out of his reverie and was staring into a pair of amethyst eyes.

"What is it Shampoo?" He hadn't even noticed that he was standing in a warm hut with Ryouga and Ukyou and Shampoo. They must have made their way to the Ice Clan while he was thinking.

"You in such deep thought, wondering what you thinking." Shampoo said.

He waved his hand in a dismissing manner, not answering her question. "Where's Akane?" he finally asked after seeing that she was nowhere to be seen.

"She go to see Great – " Shampoo had not even finished when Ranma was out of the hut and looking for Cologne.

Rows and rows of huts with smoke rising from the chimney stretched on for miles. Even though it was the Ice Clan it was completely warm and comfortable. He soon found the largest hut and considered that to be the Elder's. "Cologne!" he shouted as he pushed the wool flap open. He found the old woman sitting at a low table sipping warm green tea.

"Oh Ranma, what do you need?" she asked calmly.

He sat down next to her and slammed his hands on the table. "I need you to tell me about Kimiko."

Cologne's beady eyes widened and she almost choked on her tea. "Who is Kimiko?" She had obviously put up her little 'Soul of Ice' trick. But she couldn't fool him; it was obvious from her previous actions.

"Don't pull that crap with me! I know how she looks and I know that she was some 'thief'. So spit it out before I choke it out of you!" he threatened, clenching his fist so tight until his knuckles turned white and it shook.

Cologne laughed and dabbed her mouth with a cloth. "You have most of the information and you found it out all by yourself, don't you feel proud?" Cologne asked like speaking to a child. Ranma gave her a look to show he wasn't amused. "She was Akane's mother and she was a thief."

"Was?"

"Was, as in she passed away soon after Akane was born." And suddenly Ranma knew why Akane had that sad look in her eyes all the time.

"What about her being a thief? What about the long hair? What about -?"

Cologne held up her hand to cease his questioned. "The rest I am not obligated to tell you, that is Akane's choice."

"Where is Akane?" he asked.

"She told me that she was going to take a bath." She informed, returning to her tea.

He got up and made his way to the woolen flap. "You're not going to peak, are you Ranma?" Cologne teased.

Ranma turned five shades of red. "No!" he yelled before stalking out of the hut. He left thinking, 'That was a waste of time.'

Cologne smiled at Ranma until he was out of sight. She finished her tea and reached into her sleeves, pulling out a small crystal case. She opened the case and picked up a beautiful blue bindi (A/N: Check profile for accurate image). She stuck it on her forehead and sighed. "It's about time this was back where it belongs."

_Cold Springs_

Akane stripped down and untied her hair from its red ribbon. She sunk into the icy cold waters and shivered but waited for her over-heated body to warm it into a hot spring. Steam was soon rising from the water and she dunked under for a moment to get all her hair wet.

She soaked in the warm waters and felt at peace. Life was starting to get messier the longer she had to travel with these three. She didn't have time to visit or to answer questions. This was definitely not the original plan. It's not that she truly hated the three; it's just that she didn't want to get them involved in her personal affairs. This was not their demon to fight. The only way to protect a person sometimes is to push them away.

Was that what she was doing? Protecting them? Is that what she did years ago? Was she protecting them or herself, then and now?

"Squee?" Akane whipped around in surprise and saw a black piglet.

She sighed in relief and smiled. Ryouga blushed, he remembered that smile, it has been so long since he had seen it. She giggled and reached out to pet the little animal. He scampered away from her. "You startled me little piggy." She got out of the spring and reached out to pet it, this time the pig did not move away.

She ruffled the small patch of hair on his head and scratched behind it ears; he closed his eyes in pleasure. "How did you wonder over here little guy." She scratched under his chin. "Who am I kidding? The Ice Clan is full of animals. I wonder how they survive here?" she asked aloud.

Ryouga's eyes opened and his small eyes widened. Akane followed his eyes and her smile turned into a look of melancholy. "It's an ugly scar isn't it?" she asked the pig. Starting at her chest and running all the way down to abdomen was an 'X' shaped scar. "I guess you could call it a birthmark," she said, tracing it with her finger. "Given to me by my mother."

Her eyes watered up with tears and they fell forward fast. "She didn't deserve her fate, she didn't deserve any of the pain she went through." She covered her face with her hands as her body wracked with giant sobs.

Ryouga looked at her in concern. Who was she talking about?

"She was so happy, so happy. Until he betrayed her, until he killed her! She didn't deserve to die!" she cried into the sky. The sun was setting and it illuminated her frozen tears.

_Frozen Cliff_

Ranma sat at the edge of the cliff, his arms dangling between his knees. Why did life have to be so complicated? He stared down at the frozen lake below and the fish that swam under the layer of ice, perfectly content with the cold. Those fish didn't have to worry about sinning, all they had to do was survive and they would be fine.

A piece of old parchment with a brownish tinge floated past him. With his martial artist instincts he caught it before it fluttered away. He studied what was on the paper and burst to his feet. The picture was of an unconscious girl draped over a shadowy mans arm. She was completely bare and on her chest was an 'X' shaped scar. Her hair was cut short and the color of ashen silver.

At the bottom, written in neat script, was a message saying, 'You've been warned.'

Even though most of the girls specific features were out of view there was no questioning that this girl was . . .

He crumpled the paper in his fist in anger. His teeth were clenched and shook from the violent thoughts that invaded his thoughts. "Akane," he ground out.

-/-

A/N: This is a shorter chapter than the other ones but I hope you like it. I plan to stay in the Ice Clan longer than the other clans I've already mentioned in the story. Review! No Flames!

p.s. Next chapter is Mikado and Azusa! Woo-Hoo! You wanna know something cute? Reviews! Every time you review Ryouga kills a flirt by using two large blocks of ice!


	6. Chapter 6

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

Akane remembered watching little children playing with their mother's and father's through the market place. She would walk through the streets and peek in the windows of homes' and see families telling stories. Grandparents would shower their grandchildren with love and the occasional toy.

Akane also remembered walking down the dull halls of her home. She would feel no love and light. She remembered eating her meals alone. She remembered tucking herself in at night. She remembered being alone.

Grandparents weren't there to give her toys and kisses. She imagined what it would be like if her mother was alive. Would she have a better relationship with her father? Would she be with her parents while they told her stories?

But she didn't know what her mother would be like. Akane didn't think that she would sit around and tell stories all day. Sit around and be the housewife, doing nothing but chores. She always imagined her mother going out and playing with her. And if her mother had lived she wouldn't have played alone.

She envied the children who had friends and played with them all day. And scraped their knees when they fell down. But hate filled her heart when she over heard them talking about how they wanted to live in the palace. They had no idea what it was like. It was a cage and the key was buried deep in the ground.

But then she picked the lock and spread her wings. And the wind took her to the clearing where she met three other birds. She had to learn to trust for the first time and it scared her. She was afraid of getting hurt. The only way to keep from getting hurt was to turn them away before they had a chance.

But maybe she was protecting them instead of her. What did she have to protect them from? Herself? Her past? What?

But she also remembered someone else before the three birds. It was a boy who would visit her cage everyday. Every hour. He became possessive over her and she was happy for that. It showed that he cared. But then the boy stopped visiting her. Why? Then she found out and she wished she didn't.

Then someone after the boy and three birds; she was kind. She thought that the girl was the way her mother might have acted. She cared for her in a unique way. Like an older sister but not like the ones she already had.

She loved her older sisters but they rarely visited her. It made her mad and feel unwanted. They were her home and safe place and without them what would she do. They didn't leave like the three birds, the boy, or the girl. They were forever; at least that's what she thought.

Until the possessive boy took away the only light she had ever felt. No one could ever replace her light.

Unwillingly a mental image of Ranma flashed through her mind. She shook her head to clear these thoughts. No one could ever replace Kasumi. Could they?

Did she really hate the others like she claimed she did? If she didn't she was one hell of an actress. She felt something towards Ryouga and Ukyou that was foreign to her. But the thing she felt for Ranma . . . she couldn't put it into words. It was indescribable. The feeling you had to feel for yourself so you could understand.

But what was it? It made her mad just thinking of it. But it made her jetty at the same time.

"Akane?"

She snapped to attention at the sound of someone's voice from behind her. She whipped around and saw Ukyou behind her standing in the door of the hut. "What is it Ukyou?" she asked. She finished dressing in the thick clothes they were provided to keep warm.

"Elder Cologne told me to come and get you; supper's ready." Ukyou said to her. She walked out, expecting Akane to follow behind her. It took her a moment to realize that she was alone in the hut again; she was still in a daze. She slipped on the boots and tripped getting up. What was wrong with her? She was usually klutzy but she never tripped on air.

She walked out of the hut and saw smoke rise from the many chimneys as families prepared dinner for their children while they played. She felt a feeling of forlorn wash over her. She had an undeniable urge to walk to one of the families and join them.

She pushed that feeling to the back of her mind and walked through the mix of flavors and smells. Who knew fresh cooked food smelt that good. She was never allowed in the kitchen at home. She always burnt something or ruined a feast or something. So she wasn't good with a knife, big whoop. She didn't want to sit at home all day and care to her husbands every need. She wasn't some perfect little housewife and she certainly wasn't a baby machine.

"Ah, Akane; you finally made it." Akane looked around to see where the voice had come from. She heard someone clear their throat and looked down to see Cologne standing there, her hair veiling behind her. She didn't realize that she was in front of Cologne's hut. She smelt the wonderful aroma of one of her favorite meals and had to stop herself from running in like a starving animal.

Cologne must have seen her anxiousness for she chuckled and gestured for them to go inside. And there it was, in the center of the room above a fire, was a large pot of curry udon soup. It made her mouth water. She took a place on one of the pillows that circled around the pot. Around her sat Ukyou, Ryouga, Shampoo, and Mousse.

Cologne came in soon after Akane. She sat down and served everyone up a bowl of the soup, passing it around. Akane broke her chopsticks apart and had to force herself not to slurp. She had to keep her cool; she didn't want to ruin her reputation as the stone cold Fire Lord.

But when she tasted the soup she almost threw away the chopsticks and down it all in one gulp. Almost. How long had it been since she tasted something like this? She ate curry udon soup all the time but this soup was different. It had something else in it. What could it be?

While she was eating she didn't notice that another person had entered the room until they seated themselves next to her.

"What you doing here, Mikado?" Shampoo asked.

Akane choked and started hacking. She started to pound of her chest to get her airway clear. Everyone seated around her looked on in worry. When she could breath again she looked over to him. And it was true. There was Mikado himself with his simple but dazzling winter clothes, his sparkling eyes, and winners smile. It made her sick.

She clenched her eyes closed and continued to slurp her soup.

"I just smelt something really good coming from this hut and just had to have some." His silky voice was just as bad as stabbing needles in Akane's ears.

She knew that Mikado had an excellent sense of smell but she also knew that he wasn't talking about the soup. Her borrowed clothes had perfume lingering on them.

Akane heard someone else enter the room but didn't open her eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had come. 'I always have had the worst of luck.' She thought pitifully.

"Ranma, its about time." Ryouga complained between bites. Ukyou made up a bowl of soup for Ranma and reached across Akane to give it to him.

The group ate in silence as Akane sat between Ranma and Mikado. She drank the broth quickly and tried to get out of the tight space the two boys provided her.

"What's your hurry, Akane?" Cologne asked as she served herself up a second helping. Akane tried to suppress the glare she was giving the old woman. Cologne looked over at Ranma and gave him a friendly look. "Why were you so late Ranma?"

As he ate the soup at lightning speed that would have most people choking. Ranma gave Akane a sideways glance and turned away faster than she even noticed he stared. "Nothing." As an afterthought Ranma said, "Thinking."

Akane felt something move around in her right pocket and turned to look at Ranma who continued to eat. She fished the object out and very discreetly smoothed out the piece of wadded up paper. She immediately froze and the paper fell from her limp fingers. Her eyes flickered like a candlelight blowing in the wind, but too stubborn to be puffed out. Her eyes' finally darted over to Ranma that was looking at her from the corner of his eye.

She got to her feet and stalked out. Her bangs hid her eyes and in her haste she dropped the crumpled paper and it landed right by Mikado. He snatched the paper quickly and looked up to see Cologne glaring at him.

The rest who were gathered around didn't know what to think of the scene that just played out in front of them. It was so fast paced and unreal they would have thought they stepped into the twilight zone if they didn't know any better.

Ryouga exchanged a look with Ranma. Through his eyes' Ryouga said to him, _Follow her or I will then I'll come back and kick your ass._

Ranma's eyes said, _Leave me alone porky, you don't know the situation._

Ryouga raised his eyebrows and shrugged carelessly. He broke their connection with each other and helped himself to more soup. Ranma burned a hole in Ryouga's head. He finished his soup and slammed the empty bowl down.

He stalked out of the warm hut and out into the cold hair. He could feel everyone staring at him while he walked out, even that creepy overdressed guy who sat next to his Akane.

'Wait, Akane is not mine! Snap out of it Ranma!' Ranma shook his head; where did that come from? He had to resist the urge to slap himself when happiness bubbled up in his chest at the thought of Akane wrapped in his arms. What was he thinking? They were at each other throats recently. You can't just change your feelings like that, can you? What happened if he did change his feelings? What would become of them?

_Are you afraid?_ his inner thoughts asked.

'What? No way, Ranma Saotome isn't afraid of anything.'

_Then why don't you do something instead of being a jerk to her?_

'Well, b-because . . . um, you see . . .'

_I think you just proved my point. _The voice sounded so smug.

'You know what? I am not having a conversation with myself, that is just crazy! So I'm ending this now!'

_I think we both know what you have to do to make it end, Ranma._

'I thought I said that I was done talking to you!'

_You can't escape me Ranma. Just like how there is always a shadow if there is a flame._

Ranma finally realized that the voice that was talking to him was not his own. He had that same dark feeling squeezing his heart, the same feeling he felt when around Kuno, Kodachi and that weird guy.

'Who are you?'

There was a long pause.

_I'm the master of this game and I will cheat to get whatever I want. Even if I have to use the dirtiest tricks in the book._

'What do you mean? This makes no sense!' Ranma felt something claw up his throat and suffocate him.

_Everyone wants the beautiful Phoenix . . . look down._

Ranma unwillingly did as he was instructed and saw he was standing on the very edge of the Ice Cliff where ice stalagmites jutted from the frozen sea. Their edge gleamed threateningly in the light of the full moon. He started to feel dizzy as he swayed from side to side. He felt gravity betraying him. His body leaned forward and his toes started to slip from the edge until . . .

"Ranma!" Small warm hands clutched his muscular biceps and pulled him away. He snapped out of daze when he fell to the frozen ground. He heard someone huff beside him and saw Akane lying prone next to him. Her chest rose and fell as she took intakes of the icy air. Her cheeks were flushed from exertion and her hair was mussed from, what he guessed, running. She never looked more beautiful. Ranma internally slapped himself.

It took his fogged mind a moment to register that she had saved him. His mind flashed back to the recent times where she would be . . . different around them. Her feelings changed from devilish to panicked to sarcastic to happy-go-lucky to witty. It was hard to keep up with her. You would think from just a glance that she despised them all. But she just saved him and she also saved Ukyou. Did she really hate them or did she still feel friendship towards them?

"Are you alright?" the two asked at the same time.

Akane got up slowly and sat on her hunches, checking herself for injuries. "I'm fine." She scanned Ranma then when she was pleased he was not hurt she slapped him on the shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she shouted in his face. "Are you suicidal or something?"

Ranma opened his mouth to snap at her, his eyes filled with rage. But them he remembered the voice echoing through his head. He calmed and his face fell. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He pouted like a little kid and peeked through his bangs to look up at her.

She crossed her arms and stared at him straight in the eye. "Try me."

Ranma straightened and looked at her with an intensity so great Akane visibly flinched. "First answer me this, what does that picture have to do with you?"

Akane's eye widened.

"Who is Kimiko? How did Soun kill her?"

Her eyes searched his and for the first time in his life he saw tears well up in Akane's eyes. Even when she found out her sister had been kidnapped she still hadn't cried.

"Tell me your life." He asked more calmly. He was tired of playing games, he wanted to know. No, he _needed_ to know.

Akane wanted to yell and scream at him. She wanted to be mad at him but couldn't find the strength to do so. The look in his eyes told her she could trust him. It was that same look in his eyes when they first met. When she was young and was afraid to trust someone. Then he walked up to her, unafraid of her and friendly, and he looked at her with that same look he continued to give her now. It was indescribable.

"Well . . ."

"Charlotte!"

"Squee!"

The two turned around to see a girl with big brown hair and pink fluffy clothes chase a little black piglet. She ran across the ice gracefully as if she was floating. She continued to giggle and the pig increased its speed. But the slick surface and its short legs proved to be a problem. It fell headfirst and skidded right into Akane's arms.

Akane cradled the small thing to her chest, her previous conversation with Ranma forgotten. "It's you little piggy!"

The bubbly girl slid to a stop right by the two of them, kicking up shaved ice in the process. As Ranma and Akane swiped the ice and snow from their faces the girl studied Akane. She glared daggers at Akane's hands that were wrapped around the piglet.

"What are you doing with my Charlotte?" she asked with her glass breaking squeaky voice.

Akane got up to apologized to the girl. She had no idea this was her pet.

Ryouga looked over Akane's shoulder to plead Ranma with his eyes to help. Ranma had to hold back the cheeky smile and responded with an amused shake of the head.

Akane opened her mouth to apologize when she saw _him_ walking up to them. Ranma noticed he was coming before he could see him. He felt that weird feeling start in the pit of his stomach and shoot up his spine to his brain that shouted to him, _Danger!_

"I'm so sorry Akane, is she bothering you?" Mikado asked as he walked up to the group.

"Not at all." Akane tried her hardest to bite down a sarcastic reply but her true nature took over. "I was just about to say that the little piglet was a perfect choice for a pet. Since she is so used to hanging around a hog." Akane's deadly cute smile lit her face and Ranma had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing. If Akane didn't like this guy too he would have no problem kicking his ass if need be.

Mikado took the comment good-naturedly. He chuckled heartedly and his eyes flickered to Ranma for a second who was still sitting on the edge of the cliff. Ranma quickly got up; he felt weak and worthless when he was literally being looked down upon.

"Oh, how I missed that good humor when I had to leave you," His eyes glazed over with a look of nostalgia. "I hope you didn't forget our goodbye kiss?"

"What?" Akane and Ranma shouted together.

Ranma looked down at Akane is disbelief and she quickly shook her head in defense.

"I swear that is a lie! When I were little the two came to the Fire Clan and . . . and . . ." Akane paused. She narrowed her eyes at Ranma. "Wait, I shouldn't have to be explaining myself to you or anyone!" She flipped her hair and stalked off, piglet still in hand.

"Akane, wait!" Ranma called after her.

"Leave me alone, Ranma!" she called back over her shoulder. She increased her speed and when she was out of sight Ranma sighed.

"Ranma?" The boy in question looked up at the sound of his name. He looked into Mikado's blue eyes that didn't compare to Ranma's. "You're Ranma Saotome?" Mikado asked again.

"Yeah?" Ranma said warily. "Why?"

Ranma saw the silly girl behind Mikado make a face at him and then looked over to Mikado hopefully.

Mikado's white teeth gleamed as he smiled his infamous smile. "I have a challenge for you."

-/-

Akane's inner fire set off a glow as she walked through the slowly growing night. She didn't know where she was going but at least she wasn't blind.

"Squee?"

The strange noise reminded Akane that she still held the pig. She looked at its curious expression and laughed. "I guess you know most of my secrets, huh?" Akane put a finger to her lips and winked. "But don't tell okay?" She meant it as a joke but the piglet eagerly nodded its head.

Akane smiled down at the pig and stroked the patch of fur on the top of its head lovingly. "I guess you're the only one left I can trust in the world." She walked over to a nearby pond. "The last person who really knows what I'm going through is long gone."

Akane looked at the reflection of the moon the cold pond let off. She looked up to see the real thing. "I hope she went to the moon. _I always loved it so much._" Akane clamped her hand over her mouth at the change in her voice.

She looked down at the animal in her arms that stared back at her wide-eyed.

"Squee!"

"What?" Akane asked frantically. She hurriedly looked down at her reflection that changed to a woman about one year her senior; her calloused hands gripped the pig. Her dirt-streaked face was panicked and her hair bounced with perfect, untouched curls. Her shaky hand reached up to touch her hair and felt the smooth curls on her fingertips. She brought her hair in front of her and saw the curls herself. She looked down and her original reflection was there but her hair stayed curly.

She felt the pain slice through her chest and the blood painting the ground beneath her. she felt the frantic screams work there way up her throat and the last thing that she remembered was seeing the smug satisfaction in Genma's eyes and the torn expression of grief and victory color Soun's face. She gathered her strength for one more scream and screeched, "Don't you dare lay a finger of her Soun!"

Before collapsing to the ground.

-/-

Ukyou laughed loudly, waking a few sleeping residents. Ranma blushed profusely and finally shouted. "Enough!"

"You got that right, now shut up!" yelled the person from the neighboring hut.

Ukyou wiped the tears from her eyes' and tried to hold a straight face while looking at Ranma. Her efforts were in vain for she started a light fit of giggles. She received a warning glare from Ranma. "I'm sorry, it's just that you . . . skating? You can't skate worth a damn Ranma! What possessed you to say yes to Mikado's challenge anyway?"

Ranma's blush grew darker and he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Well it had martial arts in the name so if it has that there was no chance I could lose."

Both of them knew that was a lie and Ukyou gave him a look that told him so. "Come on Ranma."

He sighed in defeat and muttered something intelligible under his breath. Ukyou looked confused and leaned in closer. "What did you say?"

He muttered it a bit louder and Ukyou asked again.

"I said that Akane was the prize for whoever won! Happy?" he screamed at Ukyou.

She was not afraid of him but she did lean back from this revelation. Since when did he start caring for Akane like that? Ukyou narrowed her eyes and studied Ranma's blue ones. "You love her don't you?"

Again Ranma blushed and avoided eye contact with Ukyou. "N-no! I don't feel a thing for that stupid tomboy!" What Ukyou didn't hear was the quiet after thought Ranma spoke aloud, "I'm dead to her anyway."

Ukyou licked her suddenly dry lips and stared lovingly at Ranma's conflicted eyes. "Good," Ranma looked at her in shock and finally noticed the look in her eyes. "Then I have nothing to worry about." She cupped both of Ranma's cheeks and pulled him down to lock lips with him the exact moment Shampoo walked in.

-/-

Ranma and Akane fan all the way!

Guess I'm going to spend a little more time in the Ice Clan than I thought, hope you guys don't mind. Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

Mousse walked through the dead foliage that was shelled by a thick layer of ice and caked with snow. "I know I left my glasses around here somewhere." It was difficult to tell where he had lost them. Everything seemed to be the same color and shape in the Ice Clan. The glasses being white didn't help any either.

While he continued his effortless search he heard a faint squeak a little ways off. With his vision bad his other senses were heightened. He followed the sound, watching his feet as he went. The sound became clearer and he distinguished it as a pig's squeal. But he recognized that sound; it wasn't just any squeal, it was Ryouga's.

He found the piglet and some girl that was lying face down in a clearing that resembled an ice rink. Mousse blinked a few times, trying to clear his blurry vision so he could make out the girl's features. The piglet tugged at the girl's sleeve, unable to move her.

Mousse slowly walked over to the two, sure not to trip over anything. The piglet's noises were muffled by the mouthful of fabric. The animal obviously was trying to talk to Mousse, but how was he supposed to know what it was saying? He didn't speak pig.

It was obvious to Ryouga that Mousse didn't know what he was talking about. Ryouga rolled his eyes and gestured helplessly to Akane. Mousse scratched his head and felt cool metal touch his fingertips. He realized those were his glasses and blushed at how silly he was. He slipped the glasses on the bridge of his nose and adjusted them to fit.

The girl was clearer but he still couldn't see her face. He rolled her over and finally recognized her as Akane, the Fire Lord. The girl he met when he was younger when they visited the Fire Clan. The girl that Mikado stole her first kiss from. Without a second thought he put Ryouga on his head and scooped Akane his arms. He almost dropped her from the weight of the heavy clothes and long hair.

Mousse got down on his knees and set Akane back down. Ryouga hopped down from his head and looked up at him pathetically. "Yeah, like you could to any better." The blind warrior snapped at Ryouga who rolled his eyes. Mousse tried again and slung the girl over his shoulder. Much better.

He put Ryouga back on his head and took off to the Ice Clan.

_The Hut_

Ranma jumped back and unconsciously wiped his mouth. The friction between the two girls was so intense and electric that if you stepped between them you would be nothing but dust.

"What you doing with my Ranma, spatula girl?" Shampoo said, unstrapping her bomburi's.

Ukyou slowly withdrew her spatula from the sling on her back. "Yours? He is not yours."

Shampoo scoffed at her. "Shampoo heir to Ice Clan, Ranma heir to Water Clan. It only natural that we be married."

Ukyou growled low in her throat. "Well, that's not fair to him. We should let him choose!"

"You right." Shampoo tossed her weapons aside and scampered over to the frozen Ranma. She threw herself at Ranma and rubbed her curvy body against his. "You want Shampoo as fiancé, no? Shampoo sexy and can cook."

"Hey!" Ukyou tugged at Shampoo's collar. She sat next to him and leaned into him. "Ranma, we've been friends ever since we were little. You want me don't you? I can cook, I can speak correct Japanese," Ukyou shot Shampoo a look. "And don't you want someone cute but not so much of a . . .?" Ukyou struggled for the right word. "Hussy?"

"Shampoo no hussy!"

"Yes you are!"

"Least Shampoo no have spatula on back! Since when you have interest in Ranma?"

Ukyou stuttered. She looked at Ranma who sat intrigued, almost amused, in this conversation. "Well, um . . . y-you see . . . oh."

Cologne shot through the animal flap of the hut. Her cheeks were flushed at worry painted her face. "You three, come quick."

"What is it?" Ranma asked, getting to his feet.

"It's Akane, something has happened."

Ukyou and Ranma exchanged frantic looks and ran out. It wasn't hard to find where Akane was. A large circle of people gathered outside in the cold, different disputes on how she deserved this and how she was just an innocent girl.

Ranma pushed through the crowd and saw Akane lying in the center. Ryouga, as a pig, and Mousse kneeled next to her, trying to restrain her. She flailed her arms and legs, her back arched and if she kept this up she would hurt herself and other around her. She yelled and screamed in pain of the unknown.

Ranma's mind traveled back to the time when his father got drunk on a daily basis and abused his mother. Ranma was just a little kid at the time and he couldn't do anything but close his eyes and wait for morning where his father would give them the same speech. He couldn't do anything else really.

_"I'm so sorry, I promise I will change. I don't know what came over me but I'm ashamed of my actions."_

Akane stopped her movements and huffed for breath. She was bathed in her own sweat and looked pale and clammy. Ranma traveled over to Mousse. "Hey, what happened?"

Mousse adjusted his glasses, the sign of nervousness. "I don't know. I was carrying her back and she just started kicking around and screaming. I had to drop her or I would be beaten to death."

"Well, she seemed stable now. Let's take her back to the hut." Ranma scooped her in his arms and in a blur he was gone.

Ranma lay Akane down in the animal furred bed. He combed back her sweat soaked bangs that plastered her face. She burned under his touch but he couldn't tell if that was just natural or a fever.

'How could this have happened to you Akane? What's going on?'

_Later that night ~_

Akane woke with a dizzy head and a feeling of stickiness coating her through her clothes. She stared up at the ceiling; afraid if she moved her head in any way she would retch. She tried to swallow the slick lump that was stuck in the middle of her throat. It was either swallow it or throw it up. She was hot from the quilt that lay over her; her natural body heat didn't help much.

She felt relief when an icy breeze came in and cooled the sweat that coated her like another blanket. But the relief didn't last long, her aura blazed with the fever that proved to be a shell around her.

She felt her aura clash with another and slowly turned her head to the right. Her eyes' widened when she saw Ranma leaning against the wall, fast asleep. She had to admire the way his muscles were relaxed and he was off his guard. It made her feel more safe than when he was always so tense. She couldn't tell if he was feigning sleep and waiting for her to awaken or if he was truly asleep.

When the wave of dizziness passed Akane she crawled over to Ranma and patted him on the knee. All he did was roll his head to the side, a line of drool running down his chin. Akane made a face and crawled back over to the bed. She thought back to how she had gotten here. What had happened?

It came back piece-by-piece and tried to remember when this has happened before. She was five and thought it was a nightmare. She went to her father's room and got into bed with him. He woke up and asked what happened and she told him her dream. Soun explained to Akane everything and how Hinako was not her real mother.

That is when she first started to hate him. It wasn't because of what he did to her birth mother, though that had a lot to do with it. It was because of the way he treated Kimiko now, even after death.

After a few more of these occurrences Akane became used to it. And when the dreams became more frequent Akane realized that they weren't dreams . . . they were memories.

Akane realized that a small piece of Kimiko lingered inside of her. That was when a small part of her started to hate her mother. She robbed her of her childhood and youth. That's a thief for you. But she couldn't help but love her.

Akane's eyes wondered over to her bag that sat in the corner. They were full of her mother's sins. Akane's eyes glazed over with a greedy lust for treasure and she had to stamp it down. She knew it was Kimiko's thief side coming out. She didn't like the feeling of someone else living inside of her. It made her feel . . . dirty.

She hadn't had those dreams for at least two years now. Why the sudden onslaught?

Akane got on her feet and checked her pack to see if everything was there, including her normal gi.

"I have to get out of here," Akane whispered. She looked over her shoulder at Ranma who was lightly snoring now.

Akane peaked her head out of the hut door to see if anyone was out there to see her. She ran through the heavy snowfall, preventing her from leaving. The fall made the snow on the ground build up to her mid shin. But as she became more annoyed her heated aura flared and made it easier to move.

Even when the rows of huts were out of view she never slowed her run. She had to make her way to the border. "Next stop: Earth Clan."

_Morning ~_

Ranma awoke when his head hit the floor of the hut. How did he get from his sitting position to lying on his side? He got to his feet and saw that Akane was no longer in bed. He shrugged, it was either she was better and went to get breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, Ranma's stomach grumbled and he walked to Cologne's hut.

He opened the flap and everyone ate a simple meal that consisted of smoked eel, rice, pickles, miso soup, and tea. He took his place and saw one plate was left untouched.

"Hey, where's Akane?" Ranma asked Mousse.

"Oh, I thought she was still asleep, I was about to take breakfast to her." Mousse continued his eating, figuring nothing was wrong.

"When I woke up this morning she was gone!" Ranma burst to his feet, knocking his food around him.

"Ranma, there is no need to over react." Ukyou got up to try and calm him down.

"Yes there is." All heads snapped to Cologne's whose wide eyes were wider than usual. "She is far to weak, we must split up and find her!"

Everyone was given there specific location to search and set off. Ukyou went with Ryouga and Shampoo went with Mousse, just in case.

"Akane!" Ryouga yelled in the cold springs.

"Akane where are you?" Ukyou yelled.

In the ice clearing surrounded by the frozen foliage Mousse and Shampoo yelled Akane's name over and over.

On the ice cliff Ranma stood there with his arms crossed. He chided himself for letting her slip away. Where could she have gone? They had traveled to over half the clans now for no apparent reason. What could her destination be? He knew she must have been gone to Earth Clan next.

It was about a day and a half day's journey, but you never knew. Cologne told him that Akane wasn't as fast as him but when being pursued could travel like the devil was on her heel.

"Saotome?"

Ranma turned and saw Mikado walking up to him. "What do you want?"

"To cancel the match," At Ranma's confused expression he continued. "I heard about Akane so we don't have to fight. I now realize that it stupid to make Akane a prize. She is far too independent for that."

Ranma narrowed his eyes at him, not sure if he should trust him or not.

"Do you agree?" Mikado spoke up.

Ranma just nodded his head slowly, as if not understanding it all. Mikado sighed in relief. "I'm so glad," He began to walk away and over his shoulder said, "We will be fighting in another battle soon."

Ranma's head snapped up and raced after Mikado. "Wait!"

Mikado turned a corner and when Ranma followed him he was gone.

_Dark Place_

"I'm so sorry, I have failed you." Mikado kneeled before the Shadow Lord; his head hung low in shame.

Azusa skipped around merrily and Mikado chided her to stop. "Stupid player! Shadow man want us to let Akane go ahead."

The Shadow Lord chuckled and intertwined his fingers. "Azusa is right Mikado, but it was unwise to tell Ranma of the battle." He picked up the two glass chess pieces that resembled the two. "Now, get back to sleep." The two dissipated to dust and floated into the pieces. Inside the clear glass black ashes swirled.

"I knew it was bad idea to make these two pieces." He stared at the hourglass that had Akane running like the wind. He gave her a mock salute and said, "May your mothers speed be with you."

He felt laughter bubble in his chest and, again, his laughs echoed in the empty halls.

_Ice Clan_

Ranma walked into the hut and saw everyone's disappointed looks; obviously no one had found her. That means she must have ran to the Earth Clan.

"Okay, we're not going to sit around and mope," Everyone looked at Ranma strangely. "We're following Akane."

"You know where she went?" Ukyou asked.

"The Earth Clan," Ryouga whispered, realizing the obvious.

"Yep," Ranma nodded enthusiastically

"Ranma," Cologne said. "Akane doesn't like being pursued, it's in her blood. She will never stop moving until she feels that she is safe. You must find her quickly before anything happens to her."

The traveling group, that was down to three, nodded and Ryouga slipped on his traveling pack. "Well, we're burning daylight. Lets go."

The three traveled all day and didn't stop until they were out of the dangerous weather of the Ice Clan. It would be suicide to sleep out in the open, you might never wake up. Now they were in an area where there was a little more green, but there was still some snow and a small layer of ice.

They usually didn't need to make a fire; Akane was always with them to warm them. Ukyou sniffled and wiped her eyes' with the back of her hand. "I hope she's okay, what do you think could be happening right now?" No one responded; lost in their own thoughts. She looked at Ranma who stared at the moon. "I'm sorry for what I did Ranma, I don't know what came over me."

Ranma looked surprised by that. "You don't have to worry about that." Ukyou perked up at this, maybe he felt the same way towards her. "It just surprised me is all. It didn't ruin our friendship if that's what your worried about." Ukyou's face fell and even Ryouga looked at him strangely.

"Good to know." Ukyou said disappointedly.

_Same night ~_

Akane willed her feet to move. She couldn't stop; she felt someone's eagerness to find her. They couldn't reach her; she won't let them reach her. Her body swayed from exhaustion and lack of food and water.

She kicked up dirt from the path and old cottages on either side of the road, being made from stone to wood, they were more spaced out than in the Ice Clan; vines grew up the walls. Farmland stretched on for miles, golden wheat swayed, and little gardens sat quaintly in the backyards of homes. Lush grass and flowers were perfectly attended to. Baskets sat in front of houses by pots filled with different things. Wooden, make shift gates separated everyone's private land.

She had to keep going. She crossed over a bridge and ahead you could see a homey, traditional Japanese house, gated by a wooden face. A small candlelight came from one of the windows. Other houses sat around the slightly fancier one.

Akane saw the silhouette of a woman and smiled in relief. She was safe for now.

She walked through the gate and up the stone steps. She raised her hand to knock but her body collapsed against the door. The woman from inside started at the sound and shot up. A woman with a friendly face, that was creased with worry, and honey curls opened the door. "Akane," she gasped. "Akari!" The older woman called for her attendant to help her. A younger girl that was about Akane's age came out. Blue highlights striped her wavy brown hair.

The two women looped one of Akane's arms on either of their shoulders and took her into the house, her feet dragging against the ground. "What happened to her, Lady Ayumu?" Akari asked when Akane was on the futon in the guest room.

"I have no idea," Ayumu said, rubbing the bridge of her nose - the sign of her uneasiness. "I found her like this."

Ayumu studied Akane's pale face, she moaned in pain while she slept. "She must have gone days without food."

Akari was surprise by that. "How?" Was the only thing she could say.

"Oh, it's possible," Ayumu thought for a moment. "Well, it was possible for only one person." A look of nostalgia crossed the lady's features.

"I understand Lady Ayumu." Akari bowed her head and left the room.

"My dear friend, what have you done to your own daughter?"

_Flashback ~_

Ayumu of the age seventeen kneeled in her herb garden. Being left alone to care for herself when her parents died in a hunting accident. She wiped her sweaty brow and rolled up her sleeve. She heard a loud ruckus coming from the main road and knew who it must be – that good for nothing thief that was stealing all the Clan's sacred items. She got up off her knees and brought her basket with her inside her house.

She closed the windows and locked the door, thinking she had nothing to worry about.

"Nice place you got here." Ayumu jumped and twirled around to see a girl her age. She sat nonchalantly on one of her chair with her muddy feet propped up on her table. She bit down on an apple and the loud crunching noise filled the room.

The girl had curly midnight hair that went past her ankles and her delicate face was painted with dirt. Her old baggy black gi with a red trim was worn and her hands were calloused. An old leather satchel was slung over her shoulder. Ayumu knew she has seen this girl before.

Her mind pictured the wanted posters hanging on every available inch of this Clan. "You're the Phoenix Thief!"

The girl flinched and dashed over to Ayumu to cover her mouth with her hand. "I would like it if you not scream that. And I prefer my real name over Phoenix Thief." She let Ayumu speak.

"You have a real name?"

The thief sweat dropped. "Of course I do," She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "It's Kimiko."

_Present ~_

Ayumu shook her head sadly and put Akane's pack in a corner so she wouldn't have to sleep on it.

She wondered if she still had those treasures. Was she returning them? Did Kimiko ever find use for them?

She remembered her eighteenth birthday; Kimiko went to visit her and their friendship took a turn for the better. Kimiko finally decided to tell her things that were personal. It was then she asked Kimiko why she stole. She told her that her grandpa, the man who raised her, was sick and dying. She had to steal because no one would give her a job. She had to earn money some how and that was the only way.

She then went on about how she met the Fire Lord and showed him her special place. Kimiko was much wiser than Ayumu but very naïve when it came to men. She visited him often in that clearing and lost her purity. Kimiko found that she was with child and didn't know what to do. All she could do was stay with Soun. She was hissed at from other women and Kimiko felt out of her element.

Here she was, a total mess, hadn't taken a bath in God knows when, and was pretending to be some kind of royalty. So Soun wouldn't lose his reputation. Then Genma, oh Genma. He wanted the thief but Soun took her first. Jealousy raged in him and sought revenge. Not caring for love anymore, all he wanted was to have the last laugh.

And a little after the baby was born . . .

Ayumu shook her head to clear her thoughts. It was all in the past. But the past is starting to catch up with the present.

_Morning ~_

The bright sun flooded into the Akane's room and she pulled the quilt over her head. Someone swiped it away from her and she curled up into a ball when a breeze floated in and made her shiver.

"Time to get up," a friendly familiar voice called.

"Five more minutes," Akane grumbled. She always hated mornings.

A warm breath brushed against her ear and the friendly voice whispers were frantic. "Your pursuers are gaining on you."

She shot up and looked at Ayumu who the familiar voice belonged to. She looked at the petite woman like she was a lion with its mouth wide, ready to eat her.

"I want the compass Akane." Ayumu held out her hand to her.

Akane gulped. "You know I can't do that, you are not the Earth Lord."

The older woman eased her tense actions and looked at Akane like she was just a child. "I have been the Earth Lord for two years now Akane."

"Wh-?"

"Ichii died in a mining accident after being mauled by a beast that has plagued the Earth Clan for years. Ryouga was still in training and with the threat of war we haven't held the ceremony."

Akane's heart went out to Ayumu. She had lost her parents when she was young and her one friend died years ago. Her husband died, leaving her a widow and with the burden of taking care of this land. Ryouga was always gone because of his direction problem too. She was always a frail woman and all she had was her handmaiden, Akari. Almost the same situation Akane was in her whole life.

"I'm sorry Ayumu."

"No time for apologies but its time for explanations. I heard that you were traveling with my son and Ranma and Ukyou. Why did you just run off?" Ayumu was always the blunt one that always left people speechless.

"You know why, I can't pull them into this. It's far too dangerous for them."

"And it's not as dangerous for you?" Ayumu countered.

Akane pondered the question. She always said that it was risky for someone else but what about her? Akane shook her head. "I'm more experienced with this."

"I know, I know, you don't have to explain any further. You hold a part of your mother and she is getting very antsy, she wants to be free as much as you do."

"You think I don't know that?" Akane snapped. "It's not like I asked for her to be bound to me. It just happened, I don't know why. I only know one person that does, and one person to get her to where she belongs."

"But he thinks that she belongs in hell rather than the sky."

Akane opened her mouth to speak when a knock came from the front door. "Mother?" Ryouga called.

Akane started to hyperventilate. She got to her feet and went to the window, ready to jump out. "I can't let them get me." A lock of Akane's hair started to bounce with curls and spread.

"Just a moment," Akari called from the main hall.

"Akane, please." Ayumu pleaded. "I'm trying to help you," Ayumu restrained her by clasping both of her hands on her shoulders.

"Master Ryouga," You could practically _hear _the blush forming on her face. "Come in, you're mother is in the guest room." Poor oblivious Akari.

Ayumu slapped Akane across the face and yelled. "Give me the compass!"

"Mother?" Ryouga's voice was getting closer, followed by the sound of feet dashing to the room.

Akane reached in her pack and as the feet came closer her hair became curlier until her soil brown eyes changed to the color of honey. Akane stopped her frantic search and calmly gave her a golden compass with the pattern of rose vines running along the smooth surface.

Ryouga opened the door and behind him were Ranma and Ukyou. They stared at the morphed Akane who gave them a cheeky smile. Akane looked at Ayumu. "Remind me again why a thief should be returning their stolen treasures."

She waved at them all and winked at Ranma. "See ya." She dashed out the open window and ran through the trees. Ranma was about to follow her when Ayumu placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned.

"And why not?" Ranma snapped.

"She hates being pursued. You catch her and she will think that you are going to hurt her and will do whatever she can to get away. Maybe even kill, but I've never seen her do that."

'She is not Akane right now.' But she left that thought unspoken

"Then how do we get to her?" Ukyou asked.

Ayumu smiled. "You wait for her at her next destination."

"But we don't know where she is going." Ryouga said.

"Oh, yes you do. Where is the only place she hasn't been?"

"The Wind Clan." Ukyou and Ranma said together.

"Exactly." Ayumu said.

_The trees ~_

Akane hummed merrily as she ran through the trees. She got away from her pursuers again. She was good. Something that sparkled in the sun stood out against the green and caught her eye. She stopped for a moment and hopped over to the item. It was a fire opal and a silver snake with purple eyes was wrapped around it possessively.

It was beautiful.

It was extravagant but she couldn't think of any Lord it belonged to. She shrugged and reached to put it in her bag when she saw that it wasn't there. She must have left it at the Earth Clan. She could go back but the people that were pursuing her still resided there. Oh well, when it was safe she would go back.

For now she pinned the brooch on her shirt. She didn't run but just hopped from tree to tree in a playful manner, taking her time. Without the last treasure for the Wind Lord she couldn't go there any way.

_Dark Place_

"Thank you so much for finding my jewel Akane-Chan." He said. He looked at the manikin of Akane that sat next to him. "I can't wait for you to return it to me, just think of it as a wedding present."


	8. Chapter 8

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

Akane blinked open her eyes to see the canopy of trees above her and slivers of moonlight shined through the leaves, casting shadows on ground. She shifted uncomfortably as twigs and pebbles bit into her back. To her right was the lining of a forest and you could see the peaks of Heavens Mountains. To her left was a sparkling stream with different colored stones lit by the moon at the bottom of the water. She lay on her back on a carefully placed dirt path.

Well, it used to be a beautiful stone path but after years of travel and storms it had been reduced to dirt. Of course some of the stones remained and patches of grass pushed through the path.

Akane got up to sit on her knees. It was sick that Kimiko led her here of all places. It would be fine if she had taken her to the clearing. Technically that clearing is the center of their world where all the elements coincide peacefully to make a small paradise.

She got to her feet and looked around. Which way was the Wind Clan again? Force of habit Akane's hand went to her shoulder to readjust her bag but it wasn't there. Oh yeah, Ranma and the rest of them showed up, Kimiko took over and now . . . this.

Well, she might as well make herself comfortable. She couldn't step one foot in the Wind Clan without that treasure. Just like all the other Clans. She was just a flame that could drown by the water, stamped down by dirt, or blown out by a puff of wind. The treasures were like a protective shield around her.

But if she was without the certain treasure she weakened. For example, she was in the Ice Clan longer than she expected so obviously she became weaker. Until her survival instincts kicked in and her mother took over since she was stronger than Akane was. She hated resorting to that action but she had no choice. She had no control over it.

She truly was Princess Haine.

_Earth Clan_

"We have to go." Ranma said, making his way to the door. Ryouga and Ukyou had fallen asleep long ago. He had been arguing with the stubborn woman ever since you could hear a light drone of snoring from the two sleeping companions who, subconsciously, had cuddled up to each other.

"What's your hurry Ranma?" Ayumu asked calmly. She walked past him, she held herself like a true Lord. "You want tea?" she asked over her shoulder. Without waiting for an answer she called for Akari to prepare tea and peach buns.

"What's my hurry?" Ranma asked disbelieving, following Ayumu to the sitting room. Ranma had to increase his pace slightly; the woman truly was fast.

"Nothing is rushing you Ranma, didn't I tell you that Akane can't go anywhere without the Wind Clan's treasure?" Ayumu slid open the shoji door and sat down at the end of the finely polished table. It was a simple room that had a friendly at atmosphere. It had a wonderful view of the garden and in the corner sat a long bronze pot with sunflowers arranged in it. Butterflies came in from the open porch door and found any available cool place they could find. It was harvest season in the Earth Clan, then again, that was every other month. It was always a humid clan with warm days, cool nights, and it never snowed.

"No, I don't think I caught that." Ranma ground out.

"Oh," Akari came in with the tea and treats and set them down in front of her lady. She bowed before leaving. Ayumu picked up a peach bun and nibbled on it daintily. "Well now you know." Ayumu laughed and chomped down on the peach bun, losing that delicate flower quality.

Ranma snatched one of the treats and ate it in two bites. "Still think we should leave." He said between bites.

Ayumu slammed down the tea she had been sipping, startling Ranma. "Try to put yourself in my shoes Ranma. I have no family any more! Akari is a dear but we have no history. My husband died, my son is always gone, and my best friend has died! And I have to protect a grown girl like she is just babe! I have to protect Akane from this world and from herself!" Ayumu huffed to regain her breath and studied Ranma's astonished face. "She holds too many burdens that no one knows and understands . . . except for me."

Ranma straightened his back and stared at the woman deadpanned. "Try to put yourself in my shoes, Lady Ayumu. I've known Akane for years yet have never known her. I'm so close to finding out who she is and people keep snatching that away. Please, you're the closest thing I've come to figuring out the truth. You know the most from what I've heard from you just now. So . . ." Ranma took in a deep breath. "Please."

Ayumu had to suppress the look of pure surprise and care. Never had she ever met someone like this that wanted to know so much about Akane, or Kimiko. Of course for Kimiko there was her, and Soun cared slightly. But she hadn't heard of anyone so interested in Akane. Kimiko and Ayumu became best friends but what could this lead to for Ranma and Akane. Was it going to turn out good or bad?

"Lets start with this," Ayumu cleared her throat. "Have you ever heard the folklore of the Princess Haine?"

This was an unexpected turn of events. Ranma blinked and shook his head. He actually wasn't told any sort of tales when he was younger. His father thought it was a waste of time and trained him instead, saying he would benefit more from fighting than some silly girly stories. That was also when his father drilled into his brain that females couldn't fight. All they were good for was cooking the husband's meals, cleaning after them and producing strong, healthy male heirs.

Obviously that was a lie.

"Obviously," Ayumu sighed. Ranma jerked, was he really that predictable? "It's a story Kimiko made up to soothe the children of her small village. It was a difficult time for the Fire Clan and suicide rates were higher than they ever were. Everyone was convinced that they were worthless firebreathers. Firebreathers is the worst name a Fire Clan member can be called. Killings and gangs, thieves and brothels. Hell broke loose and no one was strong enough to stop it.

"But Kimiko had her own strength, she didn't fall under the influence of the cruel names and twisted world. She had the strength to change the future generation: the children. She made up a story to calm their fears and make them believe they can do anything. She called it – The Story of Princess Haine."

_Once upon a time,_

_There lived a king and a queen. They longed for a daughter so she could someday rule the kingdom but they had no such luck. They tried many times but all times were unsuccessful. On the kings 30__th__ birthday a witch came to him. She said that for his present she would give them a beautiful baby girl that will be strong and kind and warm. This all sounded wonderful to the king and queen so they agreed._

_When the day of the child's arrival the king and queen found that the baby girl was made of flames. The witch appeared in a puff of smoke and laughed evilly. The king said that she tricked them and she responded that she did no such thing. A flame was beautiful and strong. A flame is also kind and warm. Then she disappeared again._

_The king and queen looked at each other and decided to love this child with all their hearts despite what she is. She would be called Princess Haine._

_The king and queen loved the child and helped her grow up despite her being made of flames. Everyone wanted to be her friend but she always burned them. To protect his daughter the king ordered his magician to seal away the princess and only when she is called upon should she come._

_So every time you light a candle or start a campfire Princess Haine is always there. She is laughing and crying and dancing and playing because she is so happy that someone isn't afraid of her. She is happy that someone finally called her because that shows that they care._

"That is the story of Princess Haine." Ayumu said.

Ranma sighed and ran his fingers through his mussed bangs. Ever since he started this journey he has been sighing a lot. Who knew growing up could be so hard. "That sure is deep."

"Of course, I forgot a few things that are important to the story. It has been so long since I've told it to anyone." Ayumu took another sip of her cold tea.

"That still doesn't answer my questions. Who is Kimiko really? How did Soun kill her? What is the secret behind the long hair? What is going on here?"

Ayumu looked at him sympathetically. "I would love to tell you Ranma but I took an oath that I would not give away their secrets." Ranma's face fell. "But all I can tell you is that Kimiko was a thief for good reasons, nothing more. A kind woman who always put other before herself. Soun killed Kimiko, plain and simple, I'm not going to sugar coat it for anyone. And let me just say that if you don't want to burn you must stay clear of the fire before it burns you." Ayumu downed the last of the contents of her tea and checked the water clock. "It's a new day, why not get some rest?"

She walked to the door and over her shoulder said, "Oh yes, if you could catch a star what would you do with it? Send it back to the sky or put it in a jar?" Ayumu smiled and walked out.

Ranma stared at the place she once sat for a while, hoping if he looked long enough it would give him the answers. He folded his arms over the table and used them as a pillow. "I hate riddles," he said under his breath before drifting off to sleep.

_Dark Place_

He walked down the cold stone steps that led to the dungeon. It smelt of rotting wood, a musky smell, and rat droppings. The only sound was the squeaking of rats, the steady drop of water from several leaks hat had yet to be fixed, and the rattling of chains from his two prisoners. His footsteps echoed, alerting them of his presence.

He stopped in front of Konatsu's cell. The male kunoichi was presently asleep on the uncomfortable straw bed that was provided. Unsure of how to wake him without opening the cell door, he could be plotting his escape for all he knew, he took a slab of rock and hit the attractive boy with it.

The rock hit him at the base of his spine and he woke with a frightened yell. He burst up from the makeshift bed and looked around to see where the attacked had come from. His eyes landed on the man who was half concealed by the shadows standing on the other side of the bars.

"Oh, its just you. What do you want?" he asked, combing back his hair with his fingers.

"I have another task for you Konatsu."

_Earth Clan_

Ranma stood in front of a great pair of silver doors that had the pattern of a phoenix providing shelter for a great red dragon with its wings. He heard muffled voices coming from the other side and pressed his left ear against the door but it was too thick. He pushed against the great door and it opened with ease.

Inside was a plain room. It had two hallways facing each other on either side of the room and a fireplace was on the opposite side of the room from Ranma. He walked over to the fireplace and knelt down. He watched the fire flick and crackle. Its embers danced and the flames resembled a girl. It looked as if the flames were reaching out its hand to him.

The image became clearer and it was indeed a girl. A girl made of fire. She danced and played, kicking up the embers as she did so. She laughed and sang to him.

"Which way do I go?" he asked the girl.

She ceased her play and looked at him thoughtfully. She looked at both hallways then pointed to the one on the right. "He went that way."

He gave her a salute and left her so she could continue her merriment.

He ran down the hall she pointed in a great burst of speed that no human could match. He didn't know why he was so frantic; he just had to get there. He has to stop this madness once and for all.

He turned the final corner and saw him standing with his back to Ranma. In the center of the room was a prone Akane. Only her long hair provided cover for her naked body.

"Akane!" Ranma ran to her and cradled the limp girl in his arms. For the first time ever Akane's body was cold. "What have you done to her?" Ranma asked the man in outrage.

"This is my game Ranma. I make the rules, I can cheat, but you can't." He slowly turned around to face the two and . . .

Ranma was awoken from his nightmare by a smack to the head. He jumped and looked around in a rush. He sighed in relief. He wasn't in a dark room and a cold Akane wasn't in his arms. He was in the tearoom with a hot breakfast in front of him, Ayumu and Ukyou looking across the table at him strangely, and Ryouga who looked at him irritably.

"Ranma," Ryouga ground out. "You drooled all over the table dumbass!"

"What?"

"Ranma," Ukyou said, getting his attention. "You drool in your sleep."

"Yeah and it's disgusting." Ryouga said in distaste, taking his seat next to Ranma.

"At least I don't talk in my sleep." Ranma snapped at Ryouga. He cleared his throat and did his best Ryouga impression he could. "Oh, Ukyou, why do you like that stupid Ranma so much. We've been friends way longer, you should love me not that wretched Saotome! Akane, my sweet Akane, why have you changed? What happened to my fiery princess that I loved when we were just kids! I don't know which girl to love!" Ranma finished with a defeated sigh and banged his head on the table.

Ayumu giggled while Ryouga and Ukyou's faces turned redder than Ranma's patched up old Chinese shirt. "Die Ranma!" Ryouga aimed a punch at Ranma but he dodged it. Ranma sprang up and took off into the garden, Ryouga following him.

Ayumu patted Ukyou on the shoulder in a motherly manner and with a shrug said, "Boys, can't live with them, can't live without them."

The two women watched on in amusement as Ryouga and Ranma fought in the garden. "If you crush my lilacs you boys are dead, you here me?" Ayumu called from the porch.

"Lady Ayumu," Akari walked into the room, the first thing she noticed was the fight then it switched back over to Ayumu. "You have a visitor."

"Send them in please."

Akari bowed her head and set off.

"Hello?" A woman about Ayumu's age walked in carrying a woven basket and wore a straw hat. Her cotton yukata was dirty from work and her pale skin was red from the sun. A few stray pieces of curly hair could be seen and Ranma recognized the voice.

"Its you."

_Akane ~_

Akane retraced her steps back to Ayumu's house. She was tired of waiting and wanted to just get this whole thing over with. Akane chuckled, she thought of this situation so casually like it was simply a tedious chore. Well, it basically was but that was beside the point. While she waited she considered the idea of just going home to the Fire Clan. But, of course, she dismissed it.

It was a good thing she wasn't too far away. She couldn't sleep all night and by sunrise she was already making her way to the Earth Clan.

Akane slipped into the window she escaped from and tried to make as little noise as possible. "Where could you have gone?" she whispered aloud.

Akane was distracted momentarily by the sound of angry shouts and battle cries. She was half tempted to go and look but decided against it when she found her satchel in the closet. It was much lighter than when she first started, with only one item remaining. Not forgetting, she took the brooch she was wearing and dropped it in next to the pocket watch.

She slung the bag over her shoulder and put a foot on the windowpane, about to make her exit when she heard a familiar voice at the entrance hall. It was one of those voices you heard before but hadn't heard enough to put a face to it.

Stealthily she slipped out of the room and as close to the front door as she possibly could without being noticed.

"Ah, Kyoko-San, so nice to see you again."

That was definitely Akari's voice.

"Yes, it has been a long time hasn't it?" That voice had a rich, soothing quality to it. It was gentle but firm and for some reason it reminded Akane of silk.

"I'm guessing you're here to Lady Ayumu, am I correct?"

"That is right."

Akane closed her eyes and smiled. She inhaled deeply. She couldn't get over that voice. It was like a mist washing over you or steam from a bath.

"Let me go announce your arrival."

Next was the sound of retreating footsteps. Akari soon came back saying that her lady has sent for her. Akane followed behind them and she could have sworn that Kyoko woman looked over her shoulder multiple times and smiled.

When they got to the room Akane noticed that Ukyou was still there and Ranma and Ryouga were fighting over a pond.

"Hello?"

A look of recognition crossed Ranma's features. He landed on a rock that was around the koi pond and said, "It's you."

With his guard down Ryouga took that as an opportunity to knock Ranma off his perch and into the pond.

Akane was about to rush over to him to make sure that he was all right when a red head resurfaced from the water instead of the black haired martial artist. Akane was frozen in place. Unable to move or comprehend what just happened.

All those years ago, he had betrayed her and made her cry. Yet he had still gone against her.

Akane couldn't believe this, she didn't want to believe this, but the evidence was right there in front of her.

What will she do? Run away? Punch him? Scream at him?

With her mind made up and determined she stalked out of her hiding place and over to Ranma with murder in her eyes. Her battle aura flared and her mouth was twisted in a scowl.

She decided to do all of the above: punch him, scream at him, and then run like hell.

Akane cracked her knuckled. This was going to be fun.

-/-

**A/N: Hope you like it and I'm hoping that I'll be getting to the Wind Clan next chapter. I'm going to reveal everything when the end comes which is very close. I hope I'm not boring you guys. Sorry for the lameness and shortness. Review! **


	9. Chapter 9

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

All Akane saw was red and that red just happened to be a red-haired pigtailed girl with an old red Chinese shirt. She cracked her knuckles loudly and her ki flickered and licked its way down her arms to her hands that she would use to throttle him, or her at the moment.

Ranma started to back away quickly but what stopped him was the stonewall lining the garden. For the first time in his life he was terrified of this petite doll with long hair. He tried to look past the firewall that was Akane and saw Ukyou with rage almost equaling Akane's. Ryouga looked guilty for the harmless little trick he pulled before and Akari was nowhere in sight. The two older women didn't seemed fazed by this but the familiar woman, Kyoko, was worrying her lower lips between her teeth.

"You disrespectful, conniving, no good, lying, son of a bitch! How could you do this you stupid bastard? To think I trusted the likes of you!" It looked as if Akane wasn't going to kill him yet.

"Hey! Quit insulting me you stupid tomboy!" Female Ranma shouted right back.

"Don't you even dare call me a tomboy, you sex-changing freak!"

Okay, that one hurt.

"I should blast you into oblivion right now! You have no idea how pissed I am at you!" Everyone could tell how pissed she was by the aura she gave off. But what happened next Ranma never expected. Akane started crying.

"I trusted you, damn it! I trusted you two times and you just threw it all away!" But she was still mad. Akane brought back her fist, staring at Ranma with cold but burning eyes filled with rage and hate. You know those moments where you are faced with fear and you know you should do something but your body is paralyzed? This is how Ranma was feeling.

All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the beating to be over with. He was the cause of her pain and he deserved this. Maybe not the names or the severe beating but he deserved feeling like hell. Because he was such a coward he followed his father's orders and lost Akane's friendship, trust, and possibly love. He started the fight with her that night because he was afraid and upset and almost feeling betrayed. If only he had listened to Akane, none of this would be happening.

Ranma heard the smack of flesh on flesh but didn't feel the sting. He peaked an open and then another when he saw what was before him.

Ukyou had just punched Akane.

Ukyou's face was twisted in rage and fury. Murder was in her eyes and her mouth was formed into a scowl. Her knuckles were red from the contact and her body was tense, ready for anything. Akane still had her head thrown back to the side from the impact. Her eyes were dazed and staring at nothing. Her mouth was forming silent words that no one could hear as her fingers twitched.

"Don't you ever say that to Ranma again or it will be more than just a punch, you hear me?" Ukyou ground her teeth together when Akane didn't move. She was tired of the way Akane treated Ranma or any of them. Ukyou grabbed the girl by her shoulders and shook her but Akane still stared at nothing. "Answer me, bitch!"

Without missing a beat Akane brought her hand up and slapped Ukyou across the face, her hand blazing. Then Ranma noticed something; Akane's eyes were glazed over. He had seen that look before when the two were fighting. Ukyou was brought to her knees but didn't take long for her to get back up and if it weren't for Ranma getting in her way Ukyou would have tackled Akane. "Ranma! What are you doing?"

"Ukyou, you can't hurt her!" Female Ranma exclaimed to the flailing girl.

"And why can't I?" Ukyou asked.

That was a good question. How do you tell a person, especially a raging Ukyou, that if you get Akane mad right now she will beat you to death, or near death? At that thought Ranma quickly checked over his shoulder to see Akane had her head lolled to the side and her eyes were still blank. It didn't seem like Akane was going to hurt them right now, last time she moved much faster; why was she being so slow?

Akane's eyebrows knitted together and shook her head, as if to clear a thought. She straightened herself and her eyes sparked to life, looking confused, almost like she had just woken up from a dream. "Ukyou? What happened to you cheek?" Akane warily walked over to the brunette who was currently frozen in shock.

"You burnt me when you slapped me!"

Akane opened her mouth in defense but realization dawned in her eyes. Akane was at a loss for words. She bowed her head in shame and looked down at her small hands that could cause so much damage and destruction. Before Akane bowed her head Ranma saw her inner fire in her eyes disappear again. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just wanted to help but I guess I didn't do a very good job. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about Akane?" Ranma asked, concerned for her and whether she had turned mental from everything that was locked behind closed doors. He heard her sniff and her tears fell to the ground like rain.

"I guess you all are better off without me. You were fine before I came into your lives, you'll be fine now. All I ever do is hurt you all anyway. Goodbye." Without another word Akane turned around and darted off of Ayumu's property.

Ryouga, who was sitting on the porch with his mother, turned to her and asked, "What just happened?" Ayumu turned to her son, opened her mouth, then closed it again and shook her head.

Ayumu, wearing the famous Hibiki sheepish smile, turned to Kyoko. "I'm sorry you had to see that Kyoko-San." Then she noticed something very important. "Kyoko-San? Kyoko-San, where did she go?"

_Dark Place_

He sat on his thrown and laughed evilly. This game was far too fun, it was reaching a close and that meant that he could bring a few new cards out to play. One of those cards happened to be his favorite move that he used on his favorite player. Shadow Strings allowed him to control his little spitfire whenever he wished but he could only use it on her, not that he was complaining. "Poor weak hearted girl." This was his favorite part of the game, his father enjoyed doing the same thing to that good for nothing thief.

_Elsewhere ~_

Akane crouched down by the base of a tree, hiding her face in her hands in shame. She wasn't crying, they had all dried out inside of her. Besides, she was tired of crying. She had cried all her life. When she found out who she was and where she came from. She cried when she had to learn to trust and when it had been thrown away. She had cried almost everyday day but no more. She was strong and she wouldn't give those backstabbers the satisfaction of seeing her so weak.

A hand was suddenly placed on Akane's shoulder in comfort. It had startled her completely, she hadn't heard anyone come up behind her, and if it wasn't for that hand holding her she was sure she would be ten feet up in the air. The first thing Akane did was fall forward and the hand let go of her, she got up quickly then spun around to meet the one who snuck up behind her.

And it was like she was looking into a mirror. She saw her dirt streaked porcelain face and her plump lips and her nose that fit perfectly on her face. Her eyes that were a sea of emotions, the soil brown eyes hat held specks of gold and the thick eyelashes that framed all of that.

The woman smiled at Akane's dazed face. She fingered Akane's long hair and Akane immediately snapped out of it. She backed away quickly and got into a defensive position. Kyoko giggled and Akane raised an eyebrow in curiousity.

"You've been having black outs lately haven't you?" Kyoko asked.

Akane stood staring at the woman who smiled knowingly. Even as Akane shook uncontrollably she still tried to ask casual. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me Akane." Kyoko said. "You can't hide anything from me and if you want to save your friends from yourself listen very carefully."

_Later ~_

Akane walked back to Ayumu's home in the rain, her baggy gi fell around her. She hoped that the three other teens had forgotten about her and just went home. But she wasn't sure that Ranma would give up that easy, he wanted to find out about her and no one was giving him real answers. He would walk to the ends of the Earth to find out if he had to.

She stopped in front of the front door of Ayumu's house for a long time until she finally decided to knock. Obviously Akari answered the door and without a word she stepped aside to let Akane enter.

"They are in the tea room Akane-Sama." Akari informed.

Akane nodded in thanks and before she was even done slipping off her muddy shoes in the genkan Akari held out her leather satchel to her. Akane received it gratefully and went to the tearoom where everyone sat.

Everyone had mixed reactions when they saw Akane but she ignored all the questions and comments and the glares she received from Ukyou. Instead she got down on her knees and bowed low to them all. "I'm sorry! Please forgive me for my previous actions, I would like to continue this journey with you all!"

Without hesitation Ranma, who was now male, nodded his head and said, "You are forgiven and we would all be delighted to finish this journey."

"Ranma!" Ukyou exclaimed, getting up in outrage. "After everything she has done you have forgiven her?"

Ranma looked at the presently kneeling Akane and nodded in confirmation.

Akane's face lit up as a smile spread across her face. "You will not regret your decision and Ukyou," Akane swung her vision over to Ukyou who was looking anywhere but Akane. "After my business is done in the Wind Clan you are all free to return to your homes." Akane got up and readjusted the strap of her bag. "Be ready to leave soon."

Meanwhile, outside, the young "Kyoko" smirked and wrapped her cloak around her body. As she did so her body decreased in size.

_Dark Place_

"I have brought what you requested my Lord." Ken kneeled down in front of his master and presented the sack to him. He got up off his throne to retrieve it and looked inside to check that all it's contents were there.

"Very good Kyoko, or do you prefer Ken?" he laughed heartily and Ken clenched his teeth. He walked back over to his throne and studied each individual item in the dim lighting. "It is a shame that brat Temari had to betray us." He suddenly brought up, drawing Ken's attention. The dark man chuckled and the last item he held up was an intricately designed compass. "I got what I wanted from her though."

When he noticed that Ken was still there he shooed him away. "What are you doing just sitting there? Go fetch me the last item. Now!" Ken nodded and changed back to Kyoko and left the room.

_Earth Clan_

Ayumu waved goodbye to them all until they were out of site. Ayumu chuckled and turned to Akari who stared lovingly at her son's retreating back. "Akari?"

The young girl snapped to attention and stuttered, "Y-yes my lady?"

"Could you draw me a bath?" Ayumu asked.

"Yes my lady!" Akari left as quickly as possible, she knew that her lady loved to tease and she was simply giving her a chance to escape.

Ayumu giggled at the younger girl's antics and went to follow her inside. She walked down the now empty halls; it was so lifeless now that her son and his friends were gone. She passed by her husband's shrine where she kept the compass. The only problem was that the door was open and she kept it closed at all times.

Akari knew better than to go into this room. Ayumu slid it open wide enough for her to squeeze through and screamed out, "The compass is gone!"

_Ice Clan_

"Great Grandmother!" Shampoo cried out in her native tongue. She pushed through the crowd, trying to get to her grandmother's hut. "Great Grandmother! Great Grandmother!" She squeezed past the last group of people and went for a mad dash to the largest hut. She burst through the animal skin flap so fast that she got tangled up in it. "Great Grandmother, I sensed an evil presence here!"

She stopped when she saw the state her grandmother was it. A look of horror painted her wrinkled old face and her tiny build was tiredly hunched over the tiny glass box. "Great Grandmother?" Shampoo joined the Elder on the ground and looked into the box to find . . . nothing. Shampoo didn't understand why her grandmother was acting like this until she realized that this was the same container used to store the Ice Bindi. Shampoo suppressed a gasp; their sacred item was missing, most likely stolen.

"The fated day has finally come, we are all doomed, all doomed. We must prevent the inevitable." Cologne mumbled. Shampoo was about to ask what her grandmother meant when Mousse calmly came walking in, oblivious to the situation.

"Has anyone seen Mikado or Azusa?"

_Water Clan_

Genma stormed down the halls like a madmen, his wife on his heels. "Now calm down dear, you needn't be so rash." Nodoka coaxed.

"Needn't so rash? This is a big issue Nodoka!" he boomed. As he entered the servants' wing he shouted out, "Search the mansion! Search everyone and their rooms! Do not stop until we have the Water Clan's treasure back!"

_Travelers ~_

The four set off into the night to the Wind Clan. It was all silent and the only noise was the chirping of cicadas and the rustling of the leaves. The Wind and Earth Clan stayed fairly close to one another since they lived off the other. The Wind Clan provided the Earth Clan with essentials such as pots and pans and the wind to spread the seeds. And the Earth Clan provided the Wind Clan with medicine and food.

As always Akane led them all since she gave off a natural light and Ryouga brought up the back since he could sense any life force in their general area. And, as always, the silence was awkward.

"So are we going to be traveling all night?" Ukyou spat out, she was still pissed at Akane. Ukyou only received a nod; the brunette huffed and tried to find something to occupy her time.

Akane was once again lost in her own thoughts and Ranma was stuck in the middle of a dazed Akane, fiery Ukyou, and lost Ryouga. Why did all the bad things happen to him?

They had traveled all night and didn't reach the Wind Clan until late morning, reaching noon. Of course they took short brakes to rest their feet and get a drink of water.

Ukyou immediately relaxed when they crossed the border and she entered more familiar territories. The wind wrapped around her like a comforting blanket and whistled a melody that only she could hear. The streets were bustling with activity, it was storm season after all and they were working around the clock to tame the raging winds. Young children were being taught how to control their powers and teens were going out for their first assignment. Even if someone saw Ukyou they didn't stop to say hello.

But as they worked their way up the hill to Ukyou's home, things started to calm down and the winds were gentle. Ukyou's home was a traditional Japanese mansion surrounded by cherry blossom trees that danced in the wind; it was beautiful.

Ukyou didn't even bother to knock on the door, it was her home after all, and walked in. It was quiet and peaceful, unlike outside and Ranma was fidgeting from the silence, how could Ukyou live like this? But she seemed perfectly content with it all and walked down the hall to her father's study, giving small nods of acknowledgement to servants she passed in the halls.

Akane studied the almost lifeless halls, she was expecting it to be more cheerful but everything was the same color. Judging by the outside you expected the inside to be just as grand, but it was all just a sick illusion. She was so close and she couldn't wait to be done with it all, but it was all moving so slowly. Ukyou seemed to sense all of this and looked at Akane out of the corner of her eye. "We're almost there."

She wanted to end that with, "I know how much you want us out of your life" but suppressed that desire.

They found Zen Kuonji sitting in his office, overlooking the raging waters. His ears perked when the four entered but he did not move from his position. "Welcome back my daughter." He got up and walked over to engulf his only child in a bear hug.

Ukyou's toes barely touched the floor and she was kicking them madly, since her arms were pinned to her sides. She blushed a deep red, for her friends were watching. "Okay dad, thank you, now please put me down."

Zen did as he was told and laughed heartily. Honestly, Akane had never seen him like this, of course she had only met him once and he was very stone faced; she never would have imagined he would be a doting father. She smiled as he watched him joke with Ukyou and muss her hair. Her father had never done that to Akane, she was too busy training to be the new Fire Lord due to her father's health.

She always promised herself that she would be a better parent then her father. She tenderly placed a hand over her womb, that day would never come.

"So Ukyou, are you going to stay or leave?" Zen asked.

"I'm going to stay father." Ukyou replied with a smile.

Zen laughed once more. "Good, it has been getting quite boring around here."

Akane continued to watch them all smile and laugh. She knew she didn't belong here so she reached into her satchel and stroked her thumb over the watch, the curtain was closing and she must take her bow. She would step out gracefully, with her head held high, accepting her fate with pride.

"Is there something that you need?" Zen asked Akane suddenly. Akane was startled out of her thoughts and looked around the room; no one was there except herself and Zen. She must have been zoned out longer than she thought.

"Yes, this belongs to you Zen-Sama." Akane pulled out the bronze pocket watch with a clear lid that could let you see the wheels and turns that controlled the watch. "This belongs to you." Akane bowed and held the item out to him. He accepted it gratefully and when it left her hand she moved to turn away but Zen stopped her.

"I know you want to leave but you can't." Akane cocked her eyebrow at the man. Zen continued, "A storm is brewing and you cannot travel in those weather conditions. At least stay for the night." Akane nodded her head in agreement.

And Zen was right; a large storm hit them that night.

Akane sat in her room, just listening to the thunder and watching the lightning illuminate the sky. She barely heard the knock on her door due to the volume of the wild winds and thick raindrops hitting the roof. "Come in," she shouted over a clap of thunder. Ranma entered with a serious look on his face and Akane's eyes widened, she knew what he came here for. "Get out," she growled low in her throat, lightning shadowing her face.

"No," he said with equal intensity.

Akane got up and stalked over to stand in front of him. "Why can't you just drop it, you have asked so many people, why can't you accept not knowing."

"I can't accept that. Just like I can't accept how much you changed! Why? Can't you just give me an honest answer? I'm sick of all these damn riddles!"

"Why do you want to know anyway, huh? What is it to you?" She pointed a finger to his chest. "Do you care about me or something?"

"What if I do?" he answered with a question.

"Then we have a problem, I mean, how can you care for someone like me? When all I've done is be rude and spiteful towards you? How? Can you answer some of my questions Ranma? And did it ever cross your mind that I may have wanted to tell you but I was afraid of what you think? But now I will never tell you, you want to know why? Because I can never trust a betrayer and liar like – " Akane was cut off from her rant when Ranma gripped his fingers around Akane's slim shoulders and smashed his lips against hers.

Akane was left shock and all she could do was beat at his chest, until he took her hands and pinned her against the wall, deepening the kiss. Akane clenched her eyes shut and whimpered in protest, which only gave Ranma access to slip his tongue into her mouth. She felt the sting of tears pierce her closed eyelids, those tears slid past them both to land on their locked lips. Ranma was afraid he was hurting her, her bones were so fragile and he was frightened that he might break them. When was the last time he had felt these small bone beneath his fingers? Four years ago when he held her shoulders violently.

He pulled away panting, their warm breaths mingling with each other's. Akane looked at him through watery eyes. "Why?" she asked.

That was a very good question – why did he just kiss her? His mind said to shut her up but his heart spoke differently. "I don't know." Ranma was thankful for his speed at that moment because before Akane could even think, he was gone. Akane sank to the ground and brought her knees up to her chest. She rested her head on her knees and hugged her legs while she sobbed. "Don't," she said in-between sobs. "Don't act like this now, when I know I have to leave you."

_Ranma ~_

Ranma stormed down the halls to his room. Why was that damn girl so infuriating? Why did she make him feel so weak? Why did he want to take her pain away when he saw her in such a suffering state? She made him so mad, she made his blood boil, she made him laugh and smile, and she made him want to live. Ranma halted and turned to the wall to punch it. He welcomed the pain and look at his red knuckles in satisfaction. how could that small girl take such control over him?

He remembered holding her small shoulders in his hands and reminded him that she was just as weak as the rest of them, but she was just better at masking the pain.

_Later that night ~_

When the storm had died down and everyone had taken to his or her beds was the time Akane sneaked out. Her first stop would be Zen's office for the pocket watch, no need for things to get ugly and for _him _to get it himself. She only hoped the older man would forgive her.

As soon as she retrieved it and had hidden it in silk wrapping she took off into the night and headed towards the thick evil aura. The reason why the Wind Clan had so many storms was because how close it was to Death Valley.

Everything in Death Valley was dead and no animal life resided there, Akane was actually surprised how he managed to survive there.

It took half of the night to get there with her speed and even though she wanted to back down, even though she thought this was wrong; she couldn't turn back. It was too late.

The second she stepped into his land she almost fell to her knees, the dense aura about crushed her but she knew he wouldn't allow her to die; she was too important to him and his little game. She smirked and with that comforting thought in mind trudged up the small incline to his majestic palace. It was all so dark and bad shivers shot up her spine with every step closer. It was the kind of feeling that made her want to run and hide somewhere.

But she was done running, she was done hiding; she was sick of being such a damn coward and decided to do something. She was tired of blaming her problems on others. She wouldn't let him control her any more. It was a shame she just know had this revelation right when she was literally walking to her death.

She didn't even bother to knock, she wasn't going to show respect to this bastard, and to think she once called him, "friend".

She sensed his presence ahead and she stopped two feet away from him where his toe touched the natural light she gave off. She chuckled when she watched him cringe away from her heat.

"It has been far too long," The man that has been hidden this whole time warily stepped out into her light to reveal his hunched over back, his arms dangling lifelessly by his sides, and the bags under his eyes. "Hikaru Gosunkugi."

**A/N: Review if you were totally expecting that! This is a present to my dear friend and supporter, tuatara, who has published his first story! Surprise!**


	10. Chapter 10

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

Akane sat in the damp dungeon of Hikaru's palace; her hands were bound above her head and she sat on her hair. The shackles bit into her wrists with even the slightest movement, moisture seeped through her clothes, and the uneven stone floor bore into her tailbone; she was just generally uncomfortable.

She couldn't help the bitter laughs from escaping her lips. So it has come to this. Pathetically hung up like a rag doll and waiting for her demise. Without even putting up a damn fight. What happened to the girl who was determined to change her fate? What happened to the girl who promised herself she wouldn't let this effect her and she would simply keep living? She wished she could be naïve again; it was so much better than knowing things.

A dim light burned in the hall and gave her limited visibility. She looked up at the dark ceiling and let a drop of water fall on her face from a crack in the ceiling. Smoke sizzled from her skin and it stung for half a minute before the pain receded to a dull ache.

She had been staring at dark nothingness for an hour maybe. Or was it the whole night? Or maybe a few days? She really couldn't tell; there were no windows. Her eyes ached from the constant blinking and she couldn't even remember how many times she had replayed her 'capture' in her mind.

Hikaru and Akane stood in front of each other for what seemed like an eternity. Their eyes bore into each other and Hikaru's body tensed when he saw Akane move her arms but she did the unexpected. She held out her arms and let her hands dangle lifelessly at the end of her wrists. He took that as a sign of defeat and smiled smugly before tying her hands behind her back.

Akane laughed again. She couldn't believe she had done that, yet, she didn't regret it. After all the pain she had caused people, this was the suitable punishment.

Maybe if she closed her eyes, she wouldn't wake up. What bliss that would be. But, of course, the tranquility didn't last long.

The rattle of chains sounded to the side of her and a moan followed. Akane sighed and squinted her tired eyes to get a better view of what might be a person. She made out a figure with long hair tied up in a high ponytail, the bright red lip rouge caught the light, and she barely made out the patched up old ninja kimono.

The person felt Akane's eyes burn a hole through his clothes as she tried to figure out whom he was. He chuckled lightly and turned his hazelnut eyes to lock eyes with Akane.

Konatsu saw the twinkle of recognition spark to life in Akane's eyes by the dim lamplight. "Long time, no see, Akane-Sama."

_Wind Clan_

"She's gone?" Ranma exclaimed. He took Zen's collar and tried to no avail to shake the large man. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"Ranma, calm down." Ryouga said, prying Ranma's fingers from Zen's clothes.

"No! I will not calm down!" Ranma snapped.

"Will you relax already, she probably just went home." Ryouga reasoned.

"I highly doubt that." Zen spoke up. Three heads snapped in his direction in surprise. Zen turned to look at Ranma. "I was just as surprised as you are when I awoke and found that she was not here," Zen turned to Ryouga. "And I thought the same thing as you but then I came to my office and found that the Wind Clan's sacred item was gone, mostly likely stolen." As an after thought Zen said, "Again."

"Father?" Ukyou asked hesitantly. "What do you mean by, 'again'?"

Zen cleared his throat and locked eyes with Ranma. "Akane's mother, Kimiko, was a well known thief during my time. She was known as the Phoenix Thief. It was during the time of my ceremony when it all started happening. All the clans were in a panic because Kimiko stole each clan's sacred items. The clan leader would receive a warning that told you she was coming. Whether it be a note or a picture of the item she would steal." Zen took a moment to study each individual face, all remained neutral.

Ranma stood there anxiously; this is what he had been waiting for. Zen continued. "Kimiko kept those treasures and that left a burden over Akane's head. She believed it was her birth right to return all the items."

"Wait," Ryouga stopped Zen. "Is that why she has been going from clan to clan? To return all the items?"

Zen nodded his head. "That is correct."

Ryouga rested his chin in his hand as he thought. "I get the feeling of guilt but why did she wait this long to do this."

A look of uneasiness settled over the larger man's features. He went around behind his desk and sat down; he fidgeted in his seat.

"Father?" Ukyou asked again.

Ranma, who remained silent up until this point, spoke up. "It's because of Kasumi-Sama's kidnapping isn't it?" His eyebrows pinched together in concentration. "But how does that all connect?" he asked himself more that the other people in the room.

Zen cleared his throat. "May I finish?"

The three teens realized that he never finished his explanation and nodded encouragingly for him to continue.

"You are right about how this involves the kidnapping. But did you know that there is a story behind the story?" He received confused looks from the other three. "Kasumi was like a bargaining tool for the Shadow Lord to use. When Akane heard the news about her sister's abduction I am sure that she knew what she must do. The message was for her to return all the sacred items and then give them to him."

"Bu if the Shadow Lord was just going to take them back anyway, then why bother with the trouble for Akane to return them?" Ranma asked.

"He cannot touch them." Zen further explained. "There is an old human tale called King Midas and the Touch of Gold. Everything that this king touches turns to gold. The same applies to the Shadow Lord. As long as it is not touched by one of his shadows first he cannot touch it without turning it to ash." A look of sadness touched Zen's face. "The Shadow Lord was not always like this though, only after he touched the shadows for the first time. Shadows and darkness are things you can get obsessed with, he was just an unfortunate soul who fell into the same trap like his father."

A long silence fell upon the room.

"Well, you know what he have to do now, right?" Ranma asked. He received confused glances from the two other teens. Ranma rolled his eyes and sighed. "We have to do to the Shadow World, find Akane, and bring her back."

Ukyou chuckled bitterly. "You are either insane or suicidal. The Shadow World's aura is so strong and dense that it will crush you alive. I wouldn't be surprised if Akane was killed the same."

"That's why you need to come with us Ukyou." Ryouga stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ukyou cocked an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean, 'us'?"

Ryouga shrugged his shoulders and moved to stand beside Ranma. "I'm going with Ranma."

"Why?" Ukyou cried.

"Because he will need my help and we'll need your talent to ease the aura. Only Wind Clan members can do that." Ryouga said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well I'm not going." Ukyou said in defiance. She stomped her foot on the ground like a child and sat down on the floor.

"Why not?" Ranma asked in a tired tone.

"Because, you heard what my father said. Akane had a choice; she didn't have to return all the items because the Shadow Lord wouldn't have been able to touch them anyway. It was her decision to get herself into this mess. Why help her if she doesn't want any of it?" Ukyou reasoned.

"But – " Ryouga started but was cut off by a shake of Ranma's head. "Ranma."

"Ukyou you brought up a lot of good points but I still have to go for Akane's sake. She is so hung up in the past that still haunts her she believes she has ruined our lives." Ukyou opened her mouth to say something but Ranma shook his head again. "But she hasn't and she needs to know that before she does something drastic. So stay here if you want to Ukyou, but I'm going."

With that said Ranma walked out of the room and out of the palace. Ryouga looked at Ukyou helplessly and ran to catch up with Ranma.

Ukyou sat in the room with her father, the thick silence in the room covering them like a blanket. Suddenly Zen started to chuckle. "What?" Ukyou asked curiously.

"Nothing, I was just remembering the time you came home late at night and talked and talked about Akane and how she wasn't anything like the rumors said." Zen gave Ukyou a glance. "You have changed."

Ukyou sat frozen with her mouth agape as her father walked out of the room.

_Dark Place ~_

Hikaru's footsteps echoed down the empty stone halls to his two prisoners. Konatsu cringed and pressed his body against the wall, hoping to be ignored. Akane noticed this and scoffed. "Are you actually afraid of him." When she didn't receive an answer, she continued. "Idiot, you shouldn't be afraid of a pathetic coward like Gosunkugi."

Akane still received no answer; Konatsu's eyes were fixated on something else. Akane followed his line of vision and jumped in surprise and fright. Hikaru was grasping the bars of her cell door and his face was pressed up against them; he had this strange animal look in his eyes and that strange little smile on his face.

He chuckled deep in his throat and retrieved the keys from his belt. "I have a task for you Konatsu." Hikaru said while never taking his eyes off Akane. "And I need you to come along my Phoenix to watch, I just know that you will love it." Once her cell door was open Hikaru stepped in and reached for her, like reaching for a bird.

Akane couldn't fly away.

_Ranma and Ryouga ~_

Ryouga walked beside Ranma who stared straight ahead, unblinking. With each step Ryouga took he became unsure. He was part of the Earth Clan and was one with nature. It had a heartbeat and he could read it. It could tell him if something was wrong or if the way he was going was the right way. But the ground he stepped on was slowly dying and with the last of its strength warned him to turn back.

But his stubborn friend advanced on, oblivious to the danger ahead.

After a long period of silence between the two boys Ranma turned around to ask his friend what was wrong but found he was alone. "Ryouga? Where'd you go?" he asked the empty space. Ranma wondered around in the spot where Ryouga once was, calling his name. Ranma stopped in one spot and crossed his arms over his chest. "Stupid boy, he got lost again." Ranma decided to just sit and wait for Ryouga to wonder his way back; if Ranma moved it would only get Ryouga more lost.

After what felt like hours of waiting Ranma thought he must have been getting delusional. He smelt the light fragrance of lush, dewed grass and the mixed aroma of plum and cherry blossoms being carried by the wind. That was a familiar scent, the scent of home and peace; he had not smelt home in the longest time. Four years ago.

Mesmerized by the wonderful scent he got up and let his feet guide him, forgetting Ryouga.

He pushed back a wall of vines and stood there for the longest time, just staring at what was in front of him. It was a beautiful clearing and not just any clearing, it was their clearing. He couldn't possible be here, it must be a dream or an illusion. But he was holding back the vines, his feet felt the ground beneath him as he stepped into the heavenly place, he could see his reflection in the water, and he could hear someone rustling in the bushes.

Thinking it was Ryouga who was the source of the noise, Ranma expected this paradise to melt away. But it stayed solid and real and unmoving, the only thing that was moving was the bush. Annoyed, Ranma marched over there and as he got closer he heard the faint sound of giggling. Confused, Ranma pushed back the shrub to reveal the source of the noise.

He couldn't believe his eyes, this must be a trick, this must be a dream, anything so he wouldn't have to face the truth. He was staring down at Akane, her long hair tousled and her cheeks flushed from the light and happy giggles she gave off. There was no bitter look in her eye or depressing aura, she was like how she was before.

Could he have been given the chance to do this all over again, and do it right?

"You found me." Akane said.

_Ryouga ~_

Ryouga wondered around in the pine smelling forest. It was a mix of different greens and sunlight beamed through the cracks on the leaves, spotlighting burrows and nests. Birds flew from tree to tree, collecting food for their young and there was the distant sound of fish breaking the surface of a stream and then splashing back. Rabbits hopped about, crunching leaves and crisp grass on their way. Fox slept peacefully in patches of sunlight; their ears twitching at any sudden sound and lifting their head to scan the area for a few moments before resting their head on their front paws for a moment.

This scene seemed all too familiar to Ryouga.

Ryouga was sure that Ranma had let him wonder off and get lost just to mess with him. And the worst part was that he couldn't find his way back on his own because for once the life of the forest wasn't speaking to him.

Ryouga decided to stop so he wouldn't get more lost and knelt on the ground. His hand hovered just above the grass and slid it over certain areas. He still received no life that spoke to him.

What could be going on?

"Ryouga? What are you doing there?" A voice called from behind him. Ryouga knew that voice all too well. Ryouga tensed and didn't dare turn around, afraid that it would all be a dream. A bow and arrow fell beside him. "Come on boy, we're going out to hunt."

Ryouga slowly inclined his head and the glare of the sun cast a heavenly shadow on Ichii Hibiki. Fully alive and breathing and healthy, not dead and without a giant gash in his chest that ultimately killed him.

Ryouga's father was back.

_Dark Place ~_

"What are those things?" Akane asked in horror, her eyes fixated on the image the hourglass gave them. Ranma and Ryouga sat in tightly packed vine cocoons that were closing in on them slowly and would soon crush them. Akane tore her eyes from the image of the two slowly dieing boys and instead focused on Konatsu, who was the source of the attack. The cross dresser couldn't even look Akane in the eye, shamed of his actions; his face twisted in pain as he sent out another wave of power to the cocoon.

Akane gaped and her eyes widened as the cocoon pulsed with energy and tightened even more around the two boys. Akane growled deep in her throat and sent a death glare to Hikaru was enjoying every minute of the torture he inflicted on Ryouga and Ranma.

_Ukyou ~_

"I can't believe that I'm doing this." Ukyou muttered to herself as she dashed through the forest, her large spatula in hand ready to use and a mask over her nose and mouth. She had been taming storms before she could walk and some of those storms let off toxic gas and the mask she wore would prevent her from being poisoned or to fall under an illusion the gas may cause.

That's why she needed to help Ryouga and Ranma; she was the only one who could help them in this situation. After she thought long and hard on it she decided to follow the idiots, she had to move fast since they had covered a lot of ground before her. With each step Ukyou took she convinced herself she was helping Ryouga and Ranma, not Akane.

Ukyou stopped at the border between the two clans, a strange sensation prickling at her skin and trying to seep through her mask. She suddenly felt something curl around her ankles, she looked down and saw vines wrap around her and climb up her legs. She shrieked in fright and took her mini spatulas and started shredding away at the plants.

After she had killed all the vines she huffed for breath; she pushed her hair from her face. She knelt down and examined the plant, it twitched and she dropped it like it was a hot coal.

She pushed herself up to her feet and reached her hand over the other side of the border. The thick aura was tangible; she could sink her fingers into it and grab a handful. The strange mist swirled in her gloved palm; the different colors it created had her under its spell and she couldn't take her eyes off of it until it evaporated.

Ukyou shook her head to clear her foggy thoughts and realization hit her. The vines that moved and the fog was all part of a trap that Ranma and Ryouga must have walked into. Ukyou cursed and ran head on into the mist, praying that she would be able to get to the two in time.

_Ryouga ~_

"Father? Is that you?" Ryouga asked lamely.

Ichii looked at his son like he had just grown a second head. "Of course it is me, who else would it be? Come on Ryouga," Ichii gestured to the bow that still lay beside Ryouga. "It's time for me to take you out on your first hunt."

In the Earth Clan a man's first hunt would signify his manhood. Ryouga remembered this day. It was the day of his father's death and the day he was supposed to go on his first hunt. Before Ichii took his son out that day he went to hunt himself. But during his hunt he was chased into a cave by a beast that had plagued the Earth Clan for years. He died in a cave-in that day.

Ryouga licked his suddenly dried lips. He had been given the chance of a better future. He thanked every deity he could think of at that moment. He scooped up the bow and followed his father farther into the woods, ignoring how the path disappeared behind them and how he could still feel no life in the ground.

"So why did you ask me if it was really me?" Ichii asked curiously, breaking the peaceful silence.

Ryouga jolted. "Well, I had this strange dream that you were killed in a cave-in."

Ichii laughed whole-heartedly. "It will take more that a lousy cave-in to finish me off." He punched his son on the shoulder playfully.

Ichii suddenly stopped all movement and sound; he grabbed Ryouga and pulled him down behind a few bushes with him.

"Father, what's – " Ryouga was silenced when Ichii placed a finger on his lip.

'Whisper,' Ichii mouthed.

"What's wrong father?" Ryouga asked more quietly.

"We're walking toward the beast's dwellings." Ichii responded.

Ryouga felt his heart stop. All he could think about was that he was going to die just like his father did; but then he was resurrected. "Come," Ichii said, grasping his son's hand and taking off into a sprint in the other direction.

While they ran Ryouga noticed something strange, his father's feet made no sound as they ran across the forest floor and his shadow didn't follow him. Ryouga clicked the puzzle pieces together and came to the conclusion that this thing was not his father.

The imposter took Ryouga and himself into a cave where they finally stopped and rested. Ryouga needed to do this here and now. He took an arrow and fixed it on the bow, he pulled the string back and aimed it at the demon.

The imposter warily stepped back and brought his hands out in front of him in a defensive way. "Ryouga, what are you doing? It's me, your father."

Ryouga's hand tightened around the bow. "You are not father, demon! Show your true form to me. Now!" Ryouga commanded.

The imposter smirked and, like it was just a cloak, he shed the skin of Ichii Hibiki away and his form grew in size and shape before Ryouga. Towering over the fanged boy was the beast of the Earth Clan.

_Ranma ~_

The pigtailed boy continued to stare at the young girl before him. She looked confused and she pushed herself to her feet. She tapped his forehead lightly with her knuckles. "Hello, anyone in there?" she asked playfully.

Ranma couldn't avert his attention from her. She looked so young, her hair was only to her calf, her eyes sparkled with mischief and she looked at him with playfulness and giddiness, not with hatred and spite. He reached up a quivering hand to brush away a strand of hair in her face; the hand lingered on her cheek for a long time.

"Akane, is it really you?" Ranma asked in disbelief.

A blush painted Akane's pretty face; she took her own hand and covered it with her own. "Of course," Akane looked at the pigtailed boy in concern. "Ranma, are you okay? It looks like you have just seen a ghost."

Ranma closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look in her eyes that held such care; since he was given another chance, he would use it right. Ranma remembered this day; it was the day he got into a fight with Akane. Ranma took a deep breath and opened his eyes to look at Akane. "Akane, tomorrow you are becoming the Fire Lord correct?"

Akane gasped in surprise and stepped back, releasing Ranma's hand. "How did you know that?"

"I heard a rumor and wanted to confirm it." Ranma said.

Akane blinked and then smiled; she took a step closer to him and leaned into Ranma. Her arm snaked up the back of his neck and pulled his head down to her. "I guess the rumors are right for once." Akane was so close her breath tickled Ranma's open lips that were inches from Akane's. "And that means I need someone to rule next to me and since your going to be Water Lord soon . . ." she let her sentence trail off as they leaned in closer and closer into one another until their lips met.

It was so sweet and so soft and so full of love. Ranma's arms snaked around Akane's waist and pulled her small, curvy body to his larger frame. This is where they belonged. Ranma absentmindedly thought that this was much better than Akane hating him.

He felt Akane's arms rest on his neck and knead his muscles. Then her fingers started to press harder and curl around his muscular neck and squeezed hard.

_Ukyou ~_

Ukyou pushed back shrub and branches and tripped over logs in her haste. She had to get to Ranma and Ryouga before it was too late, before they died. The mist around her would knock any traveler out and give the victim visions and while unconscious, vines would cocoon around you, slowly killing their victim using their loved ones against them.

She studied about it when she was young and she knew that the homes of these plants were in a swampy area and judging by the density of the air, she was getting closer.

'Please still be alive.' Ukyou silently prayed.

In the distant she saw a pulsing glow and she knew that was it. As she neared she made out two of these pulsing objects and she noticed two silhouettes in each of the cocoons.

"Ranma! Ryouga!" She shouted. She ran to the objects and raised her spatula and slashed it down on the cocoons, breaking them.

The two boys spilled out with a strange green liquid, hacking and clawing at the vines that circled around their throats. Ukyou took a mini spatula and sliced at the vines so they could breath again. The boys started to whisper frantically about the nightmares they experienced. Ukyou encircled the two boys in her arms and whispered comforting nothings to come them down.

When Ranma composed himself he asked, "What are you doing here Ukyou?"

"I'm helping you guys and I'm glad I came or you two would have been dead by now." Ukyou said through her mask, wiping the sweat on her brow.

Ryouga, who was still in a daze, whispered, "It was so real."

"What happened to you?" Ukyou asked in concern.

Ryouga opened his mouth to talk but then shook his head and clenched his eyes shut.

Around them the swamp dissolved and what was left behind was a barren rocky land. Everything was black and gray and dead. Lightning flashed in the thick gray clouds but even the spark of light seemed devoid of color.

In front of them was a man wearing a wispy black cloak. The three jumped back in surprise and became battle ready. "Impressive," he said in his hoarse voice. "You made it past my little trap."

"Who are you?" Ranma shouted.

A low throaty chuckle escaped his lips. "Wouldn't you rather ask your friend?" He reached behind him and pushed forward a battered and bloody Akane who collapsed as soon as she no longer had a solid object to support her weight.

"Akane!" Ryouga and Ranma cried at the same time.

Ranma growled and advanced toward the man wearing the cloak. "I'll kill you!" He aimed a punch to his gut but his fist went right through him, like Ranma just punched a cloud.

"Don't be so rash Ranma." The man in the cloak said. "I have not hurt her but this is what she will look like if you do not get to her soon. If you can make it past my stages I will free Akane."

The ghost like man bent down to retrieve the fake Akane and then disappeared into the air.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Ukyou asked, walking up to stand beside Ranma; Ryouga followed her.

"Well, only one way to find out." Ranma said, pointing out the trail the Shadow Lord left behind.

The three followed the trail until they saw two people ahead. "Who is that?" Ryouga asked, squinting his eyes.

As Ryouga and Ukyou moved on, Ranma stayed where he was at; he recognized those shapes. "Stop!" Ranma cried, but it was too late.

One of the figures brought his sword down to strike the earth and a loud blast of sound from the sky shot at Ryouga and Ukyou and sent the two flying backwards. It felt like someone had just punched them all over, all at once. Ranma ran over to them to help and the two figures talked, stepping forward.

"I am Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of the Lightning Clan." He announced.

"And I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose of the Lightning Clan." She announced.

"If you wish to advance you must first defeat us!" the two proclaimed.


	11. Chapter 11

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

A/N: Sorry for the late update on this story. I have been working on a novel and it's been taking up most of my time, so don't be surprised if my writing style looks different. It took me forever to actually get used to the fanfiction format of stories and it feels really weird. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Fusion is almost done!

-/-

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Akane cried. She charged at Hikaru and tackled him to the ground. Akane straddled his waist and wrapped her hands around his scrawny little neck. Akane shook his head in her hands and she saw Hikaru's brain rattle around in his head. "You," Akane growled low in her throat. "You better call of your little guard dogs or else," Akane warned.

To Akane's surprise Hikaru started to chuckle, it was a strangled, throaty sound and it made Akane's stomach drop. "Kill me if you want," Hikaru rasped in his already hoarse voice. "But if you do who knows what will happen to your friends? Or better yet, your sisters?"

Akane froze and slowly released her hands from his neck and just sat, still pinning Hikaru to the ground with her legs. "Where are my sisters? You said you would let them go," Akane said, her brown eyes flickering.

Hikaru shrugged carelessly and looked up at her mockingly. "I never said anything of the sort. I remember that we never made any agreement for me to let your sisters go."

"You have to let them go!" Akane cried, ready to attack the boy under her when she felt someone grab at her hair and pull her off of Hikaru. Akane's head was snapped back forcefully, afraid that her hair would be pulled out by their roots. Akane tried to look behind her but it was impossible without causing herself pain.

"Alright, lets make a deal," Hikaru said, dusting off his black robes. This caught Akane's attention and she looked at the small boy with narrowed eyes. "I will let your friends and family go free, and as a bonus I will not cut that beautiful hair of yours," Hikaru started, staring Akane straight in the eyes as the girl continued to struggle in her capture.

"But?" Akane asked.

Hikaru smiled knowingly. "You're a smart girl," he commented. "But you must marry me."

Akane stared at him with true genuine fear. The sensation of anxiety and panic rushed through her bloodstream and engulfed her heart with metal claws. "You're serious?" In answer to Akane's question Hikaru nodded his head and grasped Akane's chin firmly. He noticed how Akane's eyes flickered a golden color for a moment and then Hikaru slapped her across the face, snapping her eyes back to a deep brown.

"So, what will it be phoenix? Will you sacrifice your freedom for your friends and families sake?"

Akane's gaze flickered over to the hourglass on the stand that showed the image of her three friends standing off against the two Kuno siblings. She averted her gaze from the image and focused on Hikaru who tried to restrain the pleading look in his eyes. Akane closed her eyes and when she opened them her inner fire was pulsing deep within her irises. "Never," Akane said, spitting in Hikaru's face.

Hikaru grimaced in disgust for a moment and then deftly swiped the spit from his face. He looked at Akane like mud on his shoe and then it melted away into a sickening grin that made Akane suck in a breath. Her heart stopped beating and her knees buckled. If it weren't for her captor holding her hair she would have fallen to the floor in a heap. "All right, I guess we will have to do this the hard way."

Akane bit down on her lower and felt her cracked lips under her tongue. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Hikaru shrugged his shoulders carelessly; he turned his back toward Akane and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I was thinking of being nice and giving you a choice on whether you want to be my bride. That way I could let your sisters and friends go free. But now I will just have to force your hand, and play a game of chess with your friends."

Akane's inner fire dimmed slowly as the affect of what she had just done came crashing down. "Wait, Hikaru—!" but Akane was stopped when her captor pulled her hair.

"Prepare her for the ceremony Azusa," Hikaru commanded before exiting the room.

"Azusa?" Akane asked, still trying to turn around to look at the face. Azusa pulled at Akane's hair like a leash and dragged her through the halls and to a beautiful dressing room lit with scented candles. Akane's painted face were lining the walls on paper ranging from small to large. Akane felt a bad shiver go up her spine when she saw a lifelike mannequin of herself leaning against the wall dressed in a pain yukata. On the other side of the room a wedding kimono was folded on a desk.

Akane was guided over to a cushion that lay in the middle of the room. Azusa gently guided her down and released Akane's hair. The other girl's head immediately fell forward with relief until Azusa grabbed it again and started to comb it out. Akane sat in silence and Azusa gently combed through the knots in her hair with the crystallized phoenix comb. As the shorter girl was about to undress Akane, she quickly darted away. "Azusa?" Akane asked.

The other girl looked at Akane through glassy eyes. "Hm?"

"What happened to you? I thought you were loyal to the Ice Clan. Why would you do something like this? Why would you betray them by siding with Hikaru?"

Akane was surprised when Azusa chuckled. "I thought you would know Akane, you seem to know everything. I am anything but loyal to the Ice Clan. The Ice Clan destroyed my friends and family during the war between the Earth Clan and the Water Clan."

"Does that mean that you and Mikado were—?" Akane started but was stopped by a nod of Azusa's head.

"Yes, Mikado and I were once the guardians for the Earth Clan and when it froze over we tried to fight, but we were beaten. Everyone was killed brutally but we were left there in the snow to die, our energy fading away; we could no longer take power from the earth. But then Hikaru came and saved us. He gave us life but we had to give him our souls. But it was worth it, he promised us revenge."

"How did I not see this?" Akane asked, more to herself than the vengeful girl in the room with her. "I should have seen this, both of you didn't even resemble an Ice Clan member."

Azusa giggled in her hysterical way of hers. Akane cringed as the sound burst her eardrums. "Yes, I am also surprised that you didn't realize it. I thought for sure that the moment you saw us, you would figure us out."

Akane dug her teeth into her bottom lip until she felt the taste of iron blood. "But Azusa, Hikaru is just using you!" Akane cried in a small voice. Azusa could sense the slightest bit of sympathy in the blue haired girl's voice. "He isn't helping you, once he gets what he wants from the two of you he will kill you!" Now Azusa could sense worry.

Azusa's eyes glazed over with thick clouds, concealing her emotions. "You don't think I know that? Hikaru has us locked away in a prison when he doesn't need us and he takes us out for his convenience. But to keep Mikado and I safe, I need to act like the ditzy one. It's the only way; Mikado is too oblivious to see what Hikaru is doing to us. Mikado is still caught up in how we were saved by Hikaru so he thinks he must be good. Mikado is all I have left."

Akane looked on as Azusa poured her soul out to her. She didn't even know what to say to something like that. Why should she even do anything to help the girl? She is still siding with Hikaru and is preparing her for some ceremony she didn't even know about. But she is still just a little girl who was sucked into Hikaru's lies like so many others before her. Akane reached out an unsure hand to put on Azusa's shoulder when Mikado came in the room. Akane drew her hand back, cradling it to her chest.

"Azusa, Hikaru has asked to 'greet' our guests and to just leave Akane here with Konatsu," Mikado said in rush. Akane watched as Azusa took her sweet time leaving and Mikado's face whitened, like he was imagining what might happen to him if he didn't go through with Hikaru's command fast enough.

Azusa gave Akane a look before switching back to her ditzy self and leaving with Mikado.

_Elsewhere ~_

"Alright, bring it on!" Ranma shouted at the two across the plane. "This will be too easy," Ranma said to Ryouga and Ukyou who were standing unsure behind him.

Kuno smirked at Ranma's confidence and stepped forward. He raised his katana straight up in the air. Lightning struck and thunder rolled. The thunder moved like sound waves down the length of his katana, through his body, and down to the ground through his feet. The earth shook and trembled and the three teens were knocked off of their feet. They were sent tumbling along the plane, the pressure of the sound waves acting as a physical object. "You were saying?" Kuno asked snidely after the attack had stopped.

"What the hell?" Ranma gasped out when he regained his breath.

"Thunder Wave," Kuno said proudly as he advanced toward the group, his katana ready to use. "Specialty of the Blue Thunder of the Lightning Clan."

Ranma pushed himself to his feet and stood as straight as he could. Black dots blurred his vision and it felt like his head was full of steam. "That's a dirty trick."

Kuno shrugged wordlessly; he was now only a few steps from Ranma "Doesn't matter, this is life or death." Kuno took a few deft steps forward. The next thing Ranma knew, he was falling backwards with Kuno falling forward, following him. Ranma saw the gleam of the katana as it descended down towards Ranma and then he was pushed to the side and a giant spatula blocked the strike that was meant to slice Ranma down the middle.

"Ukyou?" Ranma and Ryouga asked in unison.

The brunette couldn't answer; she grunted with the effort as she pushed Kuno away from her with her weapon. Ukyou dug her heels into the dusty land as she felt her feet slipping when Kuno pushed down on the spatula. Ukyou's back was bent like a bow now as her limbs trembled from the exertion. "Hurry," Ukyou gasped out.

"But Ukyou—," Ryouga started but Ukyou stopped him.

"No!" Ukyou shouted through a strained voice. "Do not fight with me right now! Now go, I'll take care of these two!"

The two boys advanced forward but Kodachi stepped in their path. "You will not pass me," Kodachi said, laughing insanely.

Ukyou growled deep in her throat. She quickly darted away from under Kuno's katana and threw her mini spatulas at Kodachi's ribbon. "I am your opponent!" Ukyou yelled before blocking another strike from Kuno.

As Ukyou distracted the two Kuno siblings Ranma and Ryouga snuck forward. "Do you think we should have left Ukyou alone in that situation?" Ryouga asked worriedly as he jogged next to Ranma; he peaked over his shoulder as if he could still see Ukyou fighting off those two goons.

"You heard what she said, Ukyou knows what she is doing," Ranma commented.

Ryouga shrugged and snapped his head back around just to stop in his tracks. He shot out his arm to stop Ranma short, knocking the wind out of the pigtailed boy. "What the hell Ryouga?" Ranma asked in outrage. He saw that Ryouga was ignoring him and instead was looking off into space. Ranma looked the direction his friend was looking but he just saw lifeless black. "What's wrong?" Ranma asked.

Ryouga's eyes swept over the drops and rises of the gray land. "Something is off here," Ryouga said just below a whisper. The temperature in the air dropped and fog rolled in thickly. The two could barely see their hands if they held them in front of their eyes and the icy air sucked the breath out of them.

Ryouga started to shiver like mad and Ranma's lips turned a shade of blue. Thick drops of snow began to fall on them and quickly formed 3 inches around their feet. "What is this?" Ranma asked through his frozen lips.

"This is an icy hell," a voice in the mist called. The two boys got in a sloppy defense stance at the sound. Two silhouettes began to form in the distance and as they got closer their shapes became clearer.

"Who are you?" Ryouga asked through his chattering teeth.

In answer to Ryouga question, lethal looking blades cut through the mist and came flying towards the two boys. They quickly tossed themselves to the side, the snow cushioning their fall. The boys had tossed themselves in opposite directions and they both looked across from each other in surprise and then at the images who were gaining color and shape as they neared.

Mikado and Azusa.

Ryouga and Ranma pushed themselves up on shaky legs and tensed. They must have been the ones who tossed those blades. Ranma's eyes lingered down to their feet where they wore strange shoes that had blades attached to the bottom. The pair glided across the icy surface with these weapon shoes like they were walking on air. Ranma and Ryouga had not seen anything like it in their lifetime.

Mikado gave the two other boys a dazzling smirk and flipped his hair flamboyantly. "We are two members of the Ice Clan warriors. People call us the Golden Pair for our immense pair attacks. We have been sent by our master to come and finish the two of you off," he declared, much like Kuno would. Ryouga noticed Azusa's left eye twitch in annoyance.

Azusa giggled girlishly and hopped on her feet, landing flawlessly on her feet with those blade shoes. "Here we go!" she cried merrily. Before Ryouga and Ranma could comprehend what was happening, Azusa and Mikado's graceful gliding had gained speed and soon they were moving as fast as Ranma. Their legs extended far out and then shot back, pushing themselves against the ground to gain momentum while kicking up ice. The Golden Pair then stopped in their tracks and slid their foot out; ice shavings waved on the two boys, blinding them.

Azusa dropped to the ground and Mikado grabbed her arms and swung her around in a circle. Azusa's legs were extended like rods and they knocked down Ranma and Ryouga when they collided.

Next, as Ranma and Ryouga tried to collect what was going on, Azusa grabbed Ryouga's legs and lifted him and then Mikado lifted her. Ryouga reached for Ranma so he could pull himself free but Ranma was pulled up as well. Mikado started to spin on the tip of his toe until they were going faster than a twister. When the spinning had gained enough speed, Azusa released Ryouga's legs and sent the two boys flying across the frozen plane.

The two stumbled as they tried to get to their feet but they nearly fell down in another heap. Mikado and Azusa waited patiently for the two to get up to wait to attack them again.

Azusa mocked a yawn. "Wittle Azusa is so bored," the peppy girl whined.

Meanwhile, Ryouga was huffing beside Ranma. The pigtailed boy looked at his friend worriedly. A dark and depressing aura formulated around Ryouga like a dank mist. It crawled against his skin like leaches and whisked off of him like flames. Ranma saw his friend's face before his bangs fell over his eyes. Ryouga's usual friendly, warm and goofy expression had now been snatched away and replaced by a face void of emotions. His eyes were blank and were an endless space.

Ryouga picked himself up effortlessly, ignoring his injuries. The Golden Pair stared at Ryouga with new interest. Ryouga's upper body and arms slumped forward like he was a marionette doll, waiting to be played. Ryouga rose slowly until he was standing straight up and his void eyes were trained on the Golden Pair. "I'm so tired of this," Ryouga mumbled weakly, but enough for the other three to hear him. "I am so tired of all of these questions and mysteries. The world is so cruel and depressing," Ryouga continued. Everyone failed to notice that Ryouga's fingers twitched and a candle like flicker formed in his palm.

Ranma looked at his friend, surprised why he was talking like this. The Golden Pair seemed delighted with the way Ryouga was acting and glided forward slowly. "Then this will make it so much easier to kill you," Mikado said snidely.

Ranma scowled at the pompous man that was floating towards his distressed and depressed friend. How dare he speak that way? If Ranma could get up he would punch his lights out.

As Mikado and Azusa approached him, the candle like flicker grew brighter until it was clearly noticeable. The ball of light stopped the Golden Pair right where they were, their eyes transfixed on the light. The light became so big that it could no longer fit in only one palm and Ryouga brought his other palm up to aim the light at the pair. "It was a mistake to make me angry," Ryouga growled low in his throat, his lips twitching upward. "Take this! Shishi Hokodan!" The light shot from Ryouga's hand like a canon and hit Azusa and Mikado before they could even blink.

The next thing that was heard was the shrill scream of Azusa and the guttural yell of Mikado. After the blast of energy, Ryouga sucked in much needed air, he tried to fight off exhaustions but he collapsed into the snow. During the attack Ranma had clumsily gotten to his feet and stumbled over to his friend. "Ryouga, what the hell was that?" Ranma asked in amazement.

"A special technique I had been working on," Ryouga said with pride. The moment was short lived when the smoke cleared and the boys saw the Golden Pair was still alive and struggling to get to their feet.

"B-but that's impossible," Ranma spluttered out in total disbelief. "How could they have survived that?"

Ryouga watched on in worry as the pair was close to getting up. "Ranma," Ryouga said in a solid voice. "Go," Ryouga commanded.

Ranma blinked and then shouted, "No way! I'm not going to leave you here with those two, you'll get slaughtered."

Ryouga shook his head sadly and smiled at his childhood friend. "Ranma, I'll be fine; I can take care of those two idiots. You need to go find Akane and put an end to this whole mess."

Ranma studied his friend's face for the longest time, having an internal battle within him. Ranma finally gulped and stood straighter. He patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't go easy on them," Ranma said cockily. Ranma gave his friend thumbs up before jogging through the snow.

_Akane ~_

Akane sat alone in the dressing room wearing nothing but a plane white yukata. Konatsu had been long gone after he finished dressing her. The cross dresser was then commanded to be locked in the dungeon again. Akane had been alone ever since and it had annoyed her.

She didn't know where her sisters are. She didn't know what Hikaru was doing. And she didn't know what was happening to Ranma, Ukyou, and Ryouga. Akane did not feel comfortable calling them friends just yet. She could only imagine that the day was nearly over by now and she had not seen her companions in the hourglass for hours. She hoped they were all right. The change of her emotions was strange.

Akane had been giving them the cold shoulder throughout the whole journey and now she wished for their safety. Why the sudden change in heart?

Akane's thoughts were cut off when the door slid open and a thin young boy wearing a cloak came in. The boy looked worried and it looked like he wasn't supposed to be in here and was afraid of getting caught. Akane looked at him questioningly as he kneeled down beside her. "Akane-Sama, I have come to help you escape," the boy said briefly.

Akane blinked in confusion and then waved her hands in a warding off gesture. "Wait, who are you?"

"My name is Ken," the lean boy said politely before bowing his head.

"Why would you help me escape?" Akane asked cautiously, afraid of it being a trap.

"Because I despise Hikaru Gosunkugi," Ken growled menacingly.

"So you're a prisoner?"

Ken shook his head. "No, but I am a fool who fell into his trap," Ken said in shame and remorse. He ducked his head away from Akane.

"What did Hikaru do to you?" Akane asked slowly, like speaking to a wild animal about to pounce.

"He killed my sister."

_Ranma ~_

Ranma trudged through the flat land of the Shadow Clan. The aura was so heavy and was as light as lead weights. No wonder it was a no mans land. He was surprised the aura had not crushed him to death by now, but the sight of Hikaru's palace spurred him on. He would kill that no good son of a bitch for ruining his life and Akane's and everyone else's around him.

No more puzzles, no more riddles; tonight he would have answers.

A Ranma lifted his foots to step it felt like a cinderblock was tied to his ankle, holding him down. His back was hunched over like he was carrying boulders ten times his size on his back, like he did when he was younger. Ranma had a feeling that once he would get to Hikaru's palace, it would be like a safe haven and he would no longer feel the crushing weight. Or the density would never change and he would be crushed to death before he found Akane, if she had not been killed yet.

Ranma shook his head to free of those thoughts. He couldn't think that way. Getting Akane back, that was why he was risking his life. To get that little girl back to him, to release her from the cage that she has been trapped in for years. His goal is to release that sinless girl that he once played with all night when they were younger and return her to her life. That was his goal, to return her to him.

Ranma was now only a few feet away from the palace door. Three feet, two feet, one foot; Ranma reached out a shaking hand and touched the doorframe. The pressure of gravity was released from his hand and with his new strength he pulled himself forward. Ranma sucked in a much-needed breath into his lungs. Feeling slowly came back to his face and he could blink his eyes without pain.

Once Ranma had regained feeling in all of his limbs again, he reached for the handle and slid the shoji door open. Ranma, expecting a sudden attack when he opened the door, had his body tensed and ready for action. But what greeted him was nothing. It was just a long, dark hall that looked to be endless. He stepped forward warily and the dark hallway was ablaze with light. Ranma jumped in surprise and did a 360, ready to see the Shadow Lord standing there. But Ranma was alone in the newly lit hall. The candles had lit themselves.

Ranma took another unsure step and the door slid shut behind him. Ranma jumped when the door clicked shut and checked to see if the door was now locked. He reached for the handle and tugged at it…it wouldn't budge. It looked like no one was coming in or coming out.

Ranma's footsteps echoed down the lifeless halls as he advanced forward. He thought that there must be an end to it somewhere…he was wrong. It felt like he had been walking for hours, even days, but he had come across nothing. In truth he had only been walking for ten minutes. Ranma felt anxious and on edge, at times he would take off in a sprint and then slow down to a walk again.

Ranma felt a sudden sense of déjà vu while he walked, like he had walked down this path once before. The candlelight caught on something and only a few feet away something glimmered. Ranma blinked in confusion and rubbed his tired eyes, afraid he may be seeing things, but the silvery glimmer was still there. He jogged down the hall in curiosity and came across a pair of silver double doors much taller than him. Etched into the silver was a grand phoenix that had its red wings sheltering a red dragon in their warmth. Ranma ran his hand along the door and felt a strange sense of recognition.

Ranma bit down on his lower lip and pushed the door open with all of his strength. It opened easily and Ranma entered the empty room. Across from him, on the other side of the room, was a fireplace and the mantle reached all the way to the ceiling. On the two other walls were two separate halls, leading to different rooms. Ranma approached the fireplace cautiously; afraid the flames may jump out and eat him. He watched transfixed as the fire danced and flickered about.

The longer Ranma watched the more the flames resembled a human. Then Ranma did notice that it was human, the flames had formed into the shape of a girl dancing on the tips of her toes in front of Ranma. He jumped back in surprise at this and rubbed his eyes disbelievingly. The flame girl noticed him and giggled at Ranma's goofy expression. Ranma blinked, this girl meant him no harm. Ranma crawled back over to the girl and kneeled in front of her.

"What is your name?" he asked the small girl.

The girl bowed low. "I am Princess Haine." The voice was only a soft whisper.

Ranma recognized that name somewhere before. It was the same princess from the story that Ayumu told him. Ranma bowed in return. "What are you doing here, Princess Haine?" Ranma felt strange talking to flames, but it was the only chance he had. She must know where the two halls lead since she is there all the time.

"I was trapped here by the Shadow Lord," the flame girl whispered sadly.

"Can you tell me where he went?" Ranma asked hopefully.

Princess Haine looked right and then left. She pondered for a moment and then pointed to the hall to the right. "He went that way." Ranma felt another wave of déjà vu. Ranma saluted her and before he could leave Princess Haine asked him quickly, "May I ask why you are searching for him?"

Ranma stared down at the little flame girl with sympathy. He did not want to leave her here alone. She must always be here in this empty room with no one to keep her company. She must be stalling so he won't have to leave, she must not get many visitors. "He has something very important to me." With that said, Ranma took off.

_Akane ~_

Ken snuck Akane into a large, dark room. Akane pulled her hood over her head more as she followed Ken without questions. Ken led Akane in by the hand and she silently heard him whisper, "Step up." Akane did as she was instructed and realized that this was some kind of stage. Akane was about to ask Ken what he was doing when she ran right into his back. He had stopped dead in his tracks.

Akane jerked in surprise and peeked over his shoulder to see if Hikaru was standing before them but the room was still dark and empty. "Ken?" Akane asked warily. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Akane-Sama," he said before shoving her on some sort of platform and taking off.

Akane landed on her backside and rubbed her sore tailbone. She didn't have time to react before she heard a clanking sound and metal bars circled around her, trapping her in a birdcage. Akane sat paralyzed on the platform as candles were slowly lit around her. Circling around her, on stands, were each Clan's sacred item. Akane felt panic rush through her as she realized what was happening. she felt a scream claw its way up her throat and then work through her lips.

Akane threw herself at the bars and banged them with her fists until they turned red and sore. "Someone, get me out of here! Help me! Save me! Get me out!" she screeched.

_Ranma ~_

Ranma followed the twists and turns of the hall he was pointed down, running all the way. He would sometimes run into walls in his haste and when he was making a sharp turn he would slam his shoulder painfully. He was so close to the Shadow Lord that he could smell it in the air. His vileness and his stink was the only thing to breath in. He was so close.

Ranma ran through the last hall and landed himself in an empty tearoom. The only other person present was the Shadow Lord himself. He calmly sat there sipping his tea, like he didn't even notice Ranma's present. This was the first time Ranma had ever seen the Shadow Lord's face and he was thoroughly surprised. Hikaru looked up calmly over the rim of his teacup and smiled crookedly. "Aw Ranma, you finally made it. Come have a seat," Hikaru said, gesturing to the seat across from him.

Ranma didn't move.

"I said, 'have a seat'," Hikaru said again. Ranma was pulled towards the table by an invisible thread and fell to his knees at the table across from Hikaru. Hikaru was smiling again.

"Where is Akane?" Ranma asked in outrage. Hikaru shook his head sadly and put a finger to his lips. Ranma's lips were sealed shut.

"Much better," Hikaru commented. "Now Ranma, I have been watching you for a long time throughout this journey you have taken some interest with Akane. It has been very amusing indeed, seeing you two together and all of those fights you two had. It has actually been a very good game." Ranma looked at the man across from him questioningly, still trying to speak. " I also know of your desire to know of Akane's mother and her past. Well, if you want to know, I'll tell you. It all started in the Phoenix Tribe..."

**A/N: So sorry for the lame chapter! Please review anyway though. Next chapter should be the second to last one, and we will finally know about the Kimiko/Akane secret!**


	12. Chapter 12

Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

"You see Ranma it is a very long story, so I can imagine that the best place to start would be from the beginning." Hikaru looked up from his folded hands to see Ranma staring at him with anxiety and wariness. Hikaru chuckled. "I know this is what you have been waiting for, to hear Akane and Kimiko's past, so I will gladly give it to you. You see it started almost twenty years ago now…"

_Twenty years ago ~_

"Someone, stop that thief!" a younger Genma cried as a shadow of a young woman with long hair bounded over the stone border. "Stop her! She mustn't get away! She has the clan's sacred item!"

When Genma saw that his guards were no use, he went chasing after the girl himself and by the time he had gotten over the fence, she was long gone. "Damn," Genma muttered under his breath. Genma rested his head in his hands and through his fingers he saw a small, rectangular piece of parchment. He picked it up carefully and examined it. He drew in a breath of surprise at what he saw drawn on the paper.

On the old, yellowing paper was a detailed picture of a crystallized comb decorated with rubies that made the picture of a phoenix rising out of flames. Genma flipped the paper over and on the other side, written in a neat script, was, _'This will be my next and final target.'_

Genma crushed the paper in his fist. He shook with rage and the look that woman gave him before she escaped flashed in his mind. Her large brown eyes with a hint of a golden tinge dancing with mischief. Her perfectly carved red lip quirked up in a smirk. It made him sick just thinking about it.

He must inform his friend at once that his clan's sacred item was the Phoenix Thief's next target.

The next morning Genma traveled to the Fire Clan to visit his friend and tell him the news. When Genma reached Soun's home he didn't bother to knock and just let himself in. "Soun!" he called out.

Genma heard the sound of feet padding across the smooth hard wood surface with the patter of littler feet following. Soon Soun Tendo emerged from the hall with his two daughters in tow.

"Ah Genma, what a wonderful surprise. I was not expecting you," Soun said, delighted at seeing his friend. Kasumi and Nabiki waved their tiny, chubby hands at their Uncle Genma and he waved back sweetly. The two girls giggled and hid behind their father's legs.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you?" Soun asked, patting his daughters' heads.

"Well, it is actually something I would like to discuss with you in private," Genma said, gesturing to Soun's two girls.

Soun took the hint and told Kasumi and Nabiki to go play with their mother so he could catch up with his friend. Soun led Genma to his private study and the two men sat across from each other in the dark room. "So what is the problem Genma?"

The larger man cleared his throat to speak. "You know that lately there has been a certain thief known as the Phoenix Thief who has been stealing each clan's sacred item. Last night, the thief had come to my home and taken my clan's sacred item. I chased after to her but I lost her. But she left behind a note that said you clan's sacred item will be her next target. I thought you would like to be warned so you could be prepared for her attack. But do not take her lightly just because she is a woman, she is surprisingly strong."

Soun nodded and walked over to his desk. He opened a secret compartment and pulled out a wooden box. He took out a key from his gi and used it to open the padlock on the box. He reached in and pulled out a crystallized phoenix comb. "Do not worry friend, I have plan."

Later that night, the Phoenix Thief decided that was the night to strike the Tendo household. She was surprised to see the place unarmed and unprotected. She hopped over the fence and dashed across the yard without making a sound. She hid behind the safety of a large willow tree and checked to see if it was safe. She dashed to the back porch and tested the door. It was locked. She pulled picks out of her hair and started to jimmy the lock.

It clicked open silently and the thief slinked inside, shutting the door and locking it once again. She walked along the shadows the full moon provided and finally made it to Soun's study, where she heard he kept the comb. She again had to unlock the door and she squeezed through the small crack. And there it was; the phoenix comb just sat there on his desk, shimmering in the moonlight.

This was the crown jewel of her collection. She had waited a very long time for this moment and now the treasure was all hers. But it all seemed too easy. She would think about that later. She put the comb in a pouch tied to her belt and dashed off back into the night, unaware that someone had watched her and was now following her.

Soun had watched the thief since she had first arrived. His plan was to follow her to wherever she went after stealing her treasure and then battle her there. But he almost forgot about the plan after seeing her. Her ethereal skin that was lighter than the moonlight. Her curly hair fluttering in the breeze as she flew across the yard. Her gracefulness as she melted into the shadows and then to reappear suddenly. She was an exquisite creature. Not that he did not find his wife beautiful but this Phoenix Thief had a different beauty.

Soun shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts and grabbed his bow and arrows to follow the girl. He followed her through the thick foliage, hopping over fallen branches and trying to stay quiet as his feet crunched the leaves beneath him. Soun found another thing to admire about this thief; she was as silent as the night.

Soun stumbled out of the forest and found himself standing in the most wonderful clearing he had ever had the pleasure of seeing. The grass was tall and lush, and looked warm to take a nap on. The wind blew peacefully across the land, rustling the grass and the fully in bloom cherry blossom trees. There was a crystal pond that mirrored the moon. Water lilies glided across the smooth surface as fireflies from above landed to rest on them and then to take off and play in the foliage again.

Soun was left star struck by the marvelous sight before him that he did not sense someone coming up behind him.

It all happened so fast; someone kicked him in the small of his back with his or her heel and his bow was snatched out of his hand. His arrows were stripped off his back and he felt the arrowhead prick against the base of his neck…all before he hit the ground.

Soun extended his arms to catch himself and quickly flipped over on his back to face his attacker. He was staring cross-eyed at an arrowhead that was held between his eyes. He looked up the length of the arrow and came across a small, delicate hand. He followed that hand up the slender arm and then to her face. The same face that belonged to the thief he had seen in the moonlight; she was even more beautiful up close.

The girl glowered down at him and then her face lightened and she smiled happily; Soun felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. "I knew someone was following me!" she said gleefully. "My instincts are never wrong."

Soun blinked in confusion and then his lips twitched up as well. The girl tossed the arrow to the side and offered her hand to help the man up. He looked at it strangely for a moment and then received it gratefully. The girl smirked and in an instant she was behind him and put him in a chokehold, not strong enough to hurt him but strong enough to keep him there.

"I suppose you followed me from the Tendo house to get back the treasure I had just stolen?" she whispered in his ear. Soun nodded his head, trying to hide the fact he was blushing. Her voice was so light and cheerful. "Well too bad, because I'm not giving it back. I need it."

"Huh? Why do you need it?" Soun asked curiously.

Then Soun was dropped to the ground and a foot was placed firmly on his chest. "You mean that you will listen? You're not going to arrest me?"

"It all depends on how long you keep beating me up," Soun said playfully.

The girl smiled and dropped down next to Soun. "Well, you see, the man who raised me is really sick and he's so old he could die. Unfortunately the doctors where I live don't have the proper treatments to cure him and no one will hire me for a job so I can pay for the medicine to give to him. So I decided to become a thief."

"But why only steal the clans' sacred items?" Soun interrupted.

The girl smirked. "Well, it was the only things valuable enough to sell and get a decent price for."

"You've sold them?" Soun asked, horrified.

"No, I haven't sold anything. This phoenix comb is the only thing that I can sell and will be the highest price. I have stolen each clans' sacred items and asked for their prices but they are surprisingly low. I asked how much the precious phoenix comb would be and it was a great sum; that is the only thing that really is worth anything. I will return everything else later, but I need this comb," the girl said pleadingly. She clutched the comb protectively to her chest.

Soun stared transfixed into the girl's beautiful brown eyes. "What is your name?"

"Kimiko," she said confusedly.

"No last name?" Soun asked. Kimiko shook her head. "Well, Kimiko I'm—"

"I know who you are, you're the Fire Lord, you're Soun Tendo," Kimiko interrupted.

Soun smirked. "Obviously I know who you are. You're that famous thief, the Phoenix Thief. Strange name for a thief."

Kimiko hugged her legs close to her chest. "I've become famous?" she asked playfully.

Soun nodded his head and Kimiko giggled, giving Soun a strange feeling his his chest. Soun took the comb out of her hands and stuck it in her hair. "These treasures suit you perfectly. I give you my permission to steal my clan's sacred item," Soun said, very seriously.

Kimiko's face lit up with joy and touched the comb in her hair. Soun quickly turned away before she saw him blushing. Soun cleared his throat and brought his attention to the clearing. "So what is this place?"

"It's my paradise," Kimiko said, a sudden breeze lifting up her hair. "It's my special place, and my secret clearing. You better not tell anyone about it," Kimiko said sternly.

Soun chuckled. "I won't."

The two sat in silence for a moment and then Kimiko suddenly rose to her feet. She turned around and walked towards the surrounding forest to leave. Soun stumbled to his feet to catch up with her. "Wait! Will I ever see you again?" Soun asked hopefully. Soun didn't understand why he felt such a strong attachment to this woman. He was married and had two lovely daughters.

Kimiko stood stiffly as the seconds ticked by. She then looked over her shoulder to look at him radiantly. "Meet me here every night just when the sun has set and the moon is up." And then she was gone.

Soun couldn't help the wide smile spread across his face. He pumped his fist in the air and mouthed a triumphant, "Yes!"

The next morning, Soun slept in until noon because of how late he stayed up last night. It wasn't until his wife, Hinako, took a pale of cold water and splashed Soun with it. The man awoke spluttering and coughing up water. His arms flailed about, grasping at the air, and looked around the room frantically. His eyes finally landed on the angry Hinako and sighed; he raked his fingers through his soaking hair. "What is it Hinako?"

Hinako dropped the pale and crossed her arms over her chest. "Nothing, I don't mind at all that my husband didn't come home until dawn. What were you doing all night? Are you seeing another woman? We have two children together, how can you do this?" Hinako asked, going off on a rant.

Soun brought his hands up in a warding off gesture. "Hinako, calm down. I wasn't out with any woman." It was true that he saw a woman last night, but not the way Hinako thought. Soun rose to his feet and kissed his wife on the cheek. "I would never do anything to ruin our family. I was out last night on important business. That Phoenix Thief stole the Fire Clan's sacred item."

Hinako gasped.

"So I chased after her but I lost her," Soun quickly lied.

Hinako threw herself at her husband; she snaked her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, dear. That thief has to be stopped."

Soun gulped silently and hugged Hinako back. "She will be," he said silently. "She will."

And that night, Soun met up with Kimiko as promised. Then just before dawn he would leave and get an hour or two of sleep so he would be there when Hinako woke up. This went on for almost a year and Soun could only get a few trivial things out of Kimiko. She didn't like talking about her past life, and not much about her personal life either. She would only talk to him about her friend Ayumu. She never told him why she kept her hair so long.

As Soun and Kimiko's relationship slowly became something more than just friendship, life continued normally at the Tendo house. Kasumi and Nabiki took on hobbies of their own and took interest in listening to stories about previous Fire Lord's and the title they would take on when they grew up. They often asked about their father's life growing up and Hinako grew a little suspicious.

Genma became concerned for his friend as he made up a search party to look for the Phoenix Thief so they can return all the sacred items to all the clans.

A special moment was shared between Kimiko and Soun and then…

"Let it be known that Kimiko, otherwise known as the Phoenix Thief, will be living in the Tendo household for carrying my third child," Soun announced to all the staff and his family and friends. His arm was hooked around Kimiko's shoulder while the woman avoided all the stares she was receiving, rubbing her hand over the round bump on her stomach.

Everyone's mouths hung open in shock, while Hinako glared daggers at the woman that stole her husband away. Genma was too surprised to be angry, he had searched for this woman for the longest time and here she was. He must admit that she was very beautiful up close. If he didn't have a wife and a child on the way as well, he would pursue this "Kimiko" woman too.

The servants were dismissed, whispering about how Soun's mistress was a thief and how the child would be a demon child. Meanwhile, Kasumi and Nabiki looked at Kimiko with sparkling eyes, oblivious to the situation. They walked up to Kimiko, their mother following them warily, and Kasumi tugged at her pants sleeve.

"Are you going to give me a baby sister?" she asked hopefully.

Kimiko was caught unaware by this question and kneeled down next to Kasumi. "Do want a baby sister?" she asked. Kasumi nodded her head enthusiastically. "Then, I'll try my hardest to give you a baby sister."

"It was you trying your hardest that got us into this mess," Hinako muttered under her breath.

"What did you say Hinako?" Soun asked.

Hinako sniffed. "Nothing." She turned on her heel and stormed out. Hinako stomped down the halls like a child until she was pulled aside into a shadowy hall. She drew in a breath to scream but a bony hand covered her mouth before she had the chance.

"Tell me," a hoarse, quiet voice said to her. "What would you do to get back at your husband for cheating on you?"

Hinako narrowed her eyes suspiciously but nodded her head anyway.

Meanwhile, Nabiki and Kasumi argued on what the baby name will be.

"I'm telling your Kasumi, Kame is a stupid name. Who wants the name "turtle"?" Nabiki asked.

Kasumi pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Then what name do you suggest?"

Nabiki looked at Kimiko and then her small, round belly. She put her chubby little hand on her abdomen. "How about…Akane?" she suggested.

Kimiko thought for a moment and then smiled tenderly. "That's a wonderful name Nabiki."

"Yes it is," Genma said honestly. "Now why don't you two play so the adults can talk?" Genma asked.

"Okay Uncle Genma," the girls said in unison. The two girls trotted away and Kimiko felt lonely already. She always liked children, and she would make sure to tell them the story of Princess Haine later. Children didn't judge you on the deeds you have done in the past, but what you do in the present. When adults judge you on all the mistakes you have made and will make in the future.

Kimiko was helped up by Soun and stood awkwardly by him. She only hoped he wouldn't find out about her past mistakes, she really did love him but she hated what she did to his family. She insisted that she could take care of herself and the baby by herself but Soun wanted to do the right thing and take care of her. But he didn't understand, she didn't want to live in the Tendo house.

Everyone here was too classy and she was far out of her element. She didn't have the kind of class people here have. People would make fun of her and mock her; people would whisper and point whenever she walked by in the halls. Didn't Soun see that this would ultimately kill her?

"So should I call you Kimiko instead of Phoenix Thief?" Genma asked, snapping Kimiko out of her thoughts.

Before Kimiko had a chance to answer Soun burst into laughter. "Kimiko, of course. Doesn't the name suit her?" he asked, looking down at her tenderly.

Kimiko avoided his gaze and nodded her head obediently, like she was taught to do when she was a child. 'That's not what you said when we first met," she thought snidely.

"I see," Genma said, nodding his head. He looked down at Kimiko's bowed head. She was a magnificent creature, even when she frowned, her beauty shown over all. He remembered only seeing a glimpse of her in the shadows once. Her skin was lighter than the moonlight and her hair darker than night grew past her ankles.

"So, is there a chance that I will be able to get my clan's sacred item back?" Genma asked, reverting his attention from her looks.

Kimiko's head snapped up and looked at Genma with distress. "You're the Water Lord?" Kimiko bowed from the waist. "I'm so sorry, I will return it to you as soon as I possibly can."

"I will be awaiting it," Genma said. Genma had this strange predatorily gleam in his eyes that made Kimiko cringe.

So months past and Kimiko's stomach grew even larger. Kasumi and Nabiki grew closer to Kimiko and her kind ways, and Hinako changed dramatically. She no longer kept her spite to herself and instead often told Kimiko how much she hated her. Hinako started to wear revealing clothes and said that Soun likes these kind of slutty women.

Kimiko was wrong when she said people would talk behind her back, they instead talked to her face. Insulting her and her unborn child. Kimiko told to herself that right after the child was born she would return to her tribe so her baby wouldn't have to live with this cruelty.

Soun was completely oblivious to all of Kimiko's worries.

Meanwhile, as the day to Kimiko's deliver came closer, Genma did a little research on Kimiko.

She grew up in the Phoenix Tribe where special citizens of the Fire Clan secretly resided. They were descendants of the infamous Phoenix King and had the same power of the phoenix. Yet the power was so strong that it had to be sealed somewhere and if the seal was broken then all their power would come rushing out in a monstrous moment that would kill anyone that was close enough.

Kimiko was abandoned by her parents and was raised by her great grandfather. When she was a teenager she was with many men.

There were many things he must tell Soun about his "true love". She has deceived his best friend and he would make sure she would pay.

And then Akane was born. They had decided to use the name Nabiki suggested since Akane came out with a red, crying face. She was a beautiful little baby with a small tuff of blue-black hair. Kimiko looked down at her baby in silence as she slumbered in her arms. She had never had something that was truly hers before.

It was nice; that one moment of peace where she could pretend she was the wife of the Fire Lord, and not a mistress, and lived in the Tendo house before she had to leave. She could practically already hear all the gossip spreading around. Her Akane couldn't live in a place like this, where people would reference her to "the daughter of a thief".

Two months later, after Kimiko had fully recovered, she packed all her things and planned to slip away that night with her baby. As she was packing the last of her things in her private bedroom Soun provided her, she heard something, or someone, stumble and curse.

Kimiko reached into the hidden pockets in her sleeve and pulled out a short dagger. She slunk through the shadows to the front hall where she heard the noise. She peaked around the corner and saw nothing unusual. She crept out a littler farther and before she could react, someone reached for her dagger. The person took her hair and Kimiko felt the dagger creep closer to her hair.

She struggled to set herself free but what her captor said made her freeze. "I know everything about you," the male voice whispered.

"Huh?" Kimiko choked out; she was too afraid to move her arms.

"I know your past and what your future would be like if I cut your hair."

The next morning, Soun was called to his private quarters where he could meet with his friend alone. Soun waited at the tea table, drumming his fingers against the fine mahogany impatiently. Genma was the one who asked to see him; what was taking him so long?

The entrance doors banged open, surprising Soun. Genma came in dragging a kicking and screaming Kimiko into the room with him by her hair; Genma held the dagger in his other hand. Soun shot up from his seat and rushed over to Kimiko but Genma shoved him away. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Soun, this thing might hurt you," Genma sneered

"Th-thing? Genma, what is all this? What are you doing with Kimiko?" Soun asked in outrage.

Genma growled low in his throat. "Will you listen to yourself, Soun? You always say "Kimiko this" or "Kimiko that"! You have put her on a golden pedestal on the highest mountain when this monster should just be burning in hell right now! This woman, if you can even call her that, is not as great as you think she is! And it is about time I show you that…" Genma pulled at Kimiko's hair once more and with one deft flick of his wrist, all her hair was chopped off.

_Present ~_

Hikaru sipped his tea that had now become cold. "So after your father cut Akane's mothers hair Kimiko basically went on a rampage. You see Ranma, Kimiko came from a unique tribe known as the Phoenix Tribe because of their extraordinary firepowers. But their power is so strong that they had to seal it somewhere, for some reason they chose their hair, don't ask me why. So if their hair is cut that tribe member loses all conscious thought.

"They basically become monsters. Their hair turns an ashen silver and their eyes turn as red as the pits of hell. During this time they are known to have delusions that cause them to go on this rampage. They usually die because the energy they let off is just too much for them to bear, or someone kills them first. There are rare occasions where they can snap themselves out of it and become normal before they are killed. I also heard this legend that you can capture a tribe member and use them as a weapon.

"So eventually Kimiko snapped out of it on her own but not before she killed many innocent Fire Clan members. Very tragic indeed, do you want to know where those lost souls are now Ranma? In the legendary Flame, because it was the only solid thing their souls could grasp onto. That is why it is cursed to anyone other than the Fire Clan members. So after she had become normal again, Fire Clan guards chased her out of the city and killed her in front of Soun and Genma.

"But there is also something unique about Phoenix Tribe members. They are descendants of a phoenix so they are basically "reborn" when they die. Their soul goes to their descendant's and they live inside that new body as a guest; they do not take over completely. But they are usually set free to the heavens soon after they are attached. Thus, when Kimiko died she attached herself to Akane." Hikaru took another sip of his cold tea. "Any other questions I haven't answered?"

Ranma slammed his fists on the table and reached across the table to grab Hikaru's collar. He brought the pale boy to his face and shook him like a rag doll. "Where is Akane? What are you going to do with her?" After hearing that story, Ranma had a good idea of what was going to happen to her.

Hikaru smirked and pried Ranma's fingers off his cloak. "If it was Akane you were looking for, why didn't you just say so? I would be happy to bring you to her." Hikaru rose from his seat; he waved for Ranma to follow him when he was at the doorframe. "Come, come."

Ranma rose and followed warily; there wasn't something right in the air.

As they continued walked, Ranma heard metal reverberating and clanging, almost like a human body was being tossed at metal bars. What followed the strange noises were painful cries and muffled curses. The noises were loudest at the closed door they stopped in front of.

Hikaru stole a quick glance at Ranma and smirked. The smaller man pushed the door open with a bony hand and inside Akane was trapped inside a birdcage. She was throwing her body at the metal bars and her right shoulder was scared and bleeding heavily, leaving bloodstains of the metal.

"Akane!" Ranma cried. Akane jumped at hearing her voice being called by such a familiar voice. She snapped her head and saw Ranma running up to her. Her brown eyes widened and she gasped in shock.

"You dummy! What are you doing here?" she asked, but her tone was not rude or spiteful; there was a more lighter quality to it, but it was still panicked. Over Ranma's shoulder she saw Hikaru draw back his bow and an arrow went flying through the air. There was a twang and then a wet thunk as it drilled itself into Ranma's left shoulder. "Ranma!"

Everything went in slow motion from there. Akane screamed and Ranma fell, not having the energy to cry out in pain. He writhed in pain on the black marble floor and bit down on his lower lip until he tasted iron. Ranma clutched at his shoulder, fumbling for the arrow so he could pull it out of his shoulder. He glared up at Hikaru, who smiled down on him. Hikaru slowly approached Akane.

Ranma sat up as fast as he could in this state of pain. Fire pulsed through his veins and he tried not to scream. Hikaru started to unlock Akane's cage and stalked over to her slowly. Ranma pushed himself to his feet slowly, after many failed attempts, and found a firm grip on the arrow. He pulled it out quickly and cried out, "Run you idiot!"

Ranma's voice snapped Akane out of her trance and she tried to run away, but it was too late. Hikaru had a tight grip on her hair and he deftly chopped off all her hair with a flick of his wrist.

Akane's world caught on fire.

Her hair turned an ashen silver and her eyes became redder than flames. Her aura burst to life and leaped off her skin in six-foot flames. Hikaru stood back in awe, taking it all in like it was a work of art. "Glorious," he breathed out. Akane stood calmly, looking at nothing yet looking at everything at the same time. "Listen to me Akane, you must obey me. You will kill that piece of dirt over there," Hikaru said, pointing at Ranma. "And I will help you."

Akane turned her head to look at Hikaru. All her movements were not as wild as Hikaru explained to Ranma earlier. Her movements were slow and controlled. She brought her index finger and middle finger together and brought them to her lips. She held no emotions in her face when she blew out the mouth and flames were spit out. The flames encased Hikaru like a blossom closing up and burnt his skin to a crisp until he was nothing but dust and bone.

Meanwhile, the enemies Ukyou and Ryouga were fighting turned to dust before their eyes. The two friends met up with each other half way and quickly ran to Hikaru's palace as everything changed and morphed before them into a regular landscape

Ranma approached Akane cautiously, afraid that one wrong move would kill him. "Akane?" he asked. She didn't seem to recognize her name. "Akane?" he asked again, placing his hand on her shoulder. A moment afterwards, Akane kicked Ranma in the chest and sent him flying across the room, hitting a column.

The palace started to crack and chip away in chunks. After Akane had killed the only Shadow Lord, all he had created was now being turned to dust.

Ranma brushed the rubble out of his bangs and picked himself up quickly. When he regained his balance he was punched in the gut by a shaky fist. He looked up at Akane's face in surprise and saw tears pool in her red eyes. "Ranma," she whispered. "…Help…m-me."

Ranma drew in a breath of understanding. She was fighting back the monster that was inside of her. Ranma smirked. He dodged every attack she would throw at him while trying to get her back to reality. "Akane, wake up! It's me," Ranma exclaimed, ducking a kick to the head.

Akane continued to attack me, yelling out battle cries. "Akane, snap out of it! You're not a monster," Ranma continued, catching her fist in his hand and pushing her away. "You can fight this Akane, you're not a monster, you're human!" A big chunk of the ceiling landed in between them while they were fighting. Ranma caught her in a vise hug as she continued to claw, and bite, and kick him. "Listen to me! Remember me, and remember me and you and our childhood, and Ryouga and Ukyou. You are human!"

"And you are precious to me," he whispered in her ear.

Then the ceiling caved in on them.

-/-

"No!" Ukyou screamed. She ran to the falling building but Ryouga caught her before she got far. "Ryouga let go of me! Ranma and Akane are in there! Let me go!"

"Akane's in there?" another voice from behind them cried. The two twisted in surprise and saw the other two Tendo sisters; their clothes were stained and wreaked of dried urine and rat droppings. Their hair was a mess and their faces were smeared with dirt.

"Nabiki-Sama! Kasumi-Sama!" Ryouga and Ukyou cried in unison.

"Did I hear you correctly?" Nabiki asked the two in a hoarse voice. "Is Akane in there?" Nabiki growled at either one's lack of response. She grabbed Ukyou's collar and shook her. "Tell me!"

"I'm not sure, but I wouldn't get your hopes up!" Ukyou yelled back. Talking back to the Lightning Lord was not a good idea, considering her attitude, but all Nabiki did was drop Ukyou's collar and fall to the ground.

"Oh God," she breathed out. Kasumi kneeled by her sister and rubbed her back comfortingly.

Ryouga turned away from the scene, feeling unwanted emotions bubbling to the surface. He saw two blurred figures forming in the debris. He rubbed his eyes, afraid that they may be playing trick on him but they were real. They were…"Its Ranma and Akane!"

_3 months later ~_

Nabiki banged at Akane's bedroom door in annoyance. "Come on Akane! Quit moping around already, it's been three months! It's just hair, get over it!"

Another silhouette joined Nabiki's. "Please don't bother her right now Nabiki, she has gone through a lot of stress," Kasumi chided gently. Akane then saw Kasumi guide Nabiki away, but Kasumi stayed longer. "Do you want me to bring dinner to you? Or any of those letters your three friends keep sending you?" Kasumi asked.

"No thanks," Akane said quietly, but enough for Kasumi to hear.

"Oh, all right then," Kasumi said, walking away defeated.

It had been a long three months since the incident at Hikaru's palace. Akane discovered her mother left her body, and this time it hurt even more than the first time she left Akane alone. All the sacred items were returned once again and she had news to tell her father. The Hinako that Soun had been living with for eighteen years or so was a fraud. It was a puppet Hikaru's father made.

Akane discovered this when she visited the Light Clan. She had found the original Hinako that had been reduced down to a sickly child because of how much fake Hinako drained her. Soun wept at the loss of another one of his loved ones but he said that instead of her being his wife, he would take care of her and treat her as his daughter

Akane and Soun finally sat down and made up, of course it is still awkward but they are working on it.

Ukyou, Ryouga, and Ranma had become lords; Akane didn't come to any of their ceremonies. The three wanted to be forgiven by Akane and become friends again but she refused to see anyone.

Akane had been living three months in solitude, trying to get used to the empty feeling in her chest now that her mother had truly left her. She would take back all the rude things she said about her just to have her back. Akane fingered her shorter hair and picked up her hand mirror. Her face was unwashed and her shorter hair was in disarray. Maybe Nabiki was right; maybe she should stop moping and get her mind off of it all.

She instinctively decided to go to the clearing. The clearing where her father and mother first met. The clearing that was her mother's safe haven. The clearing that saved Akane. The clearing where Akane learned to trust and not to trust too much. The clearing where she met her friends. The clearing that was so magical.

Akane lay in the lush grass in peace, twirling a sakura blossom between her fingers absentmindedly. All was peace until a rustling in the bushes disturbed it. Akane sat up in interest to see what made the noise. Ranma emerged from the forest lining the clearing, stumbling and picking leaves out of his hair. Akane sighed and fell back down on her back; she hadn't seen Ranma since she "woke up" that day at Hikaru's palace. Apparently he had saved her from herself and the falling building.

Ranma chuckled awkwardly. "I thought I heard someone over here." He received no response from Akane. "Can I sit?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Akane shrugged nonchalantly, refusing to talk to him.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence until Akane spoke up, "So, being the leader of your Clan is a big pain in the ass, isn't it?"

Ranma couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, it is."

"So how come you're here and not working at the Water Clan?" Akane asked.

"Because I knew this was the only way I would be able to see you. You didn't come to my ceremony, you refuse to see me when I visit, and you won't reply to my letters."

"I don't even read your letters," she muttered.

Ranma's left eye twitched. "I heard that."

Akane pushed herself up to sit next to Ranma. "So what's so important that you want to tell me? If you're being so persistent it must be huge."

Ranma smiled; he liked this new Akane, or old Akane. The way she acted when they were kids and she was happy, without any sarcasm in her tone. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all the wrongs I've done you. I hadn't realized how much I was like my dad, and I swore I would never be like him. I've been a jerk to you Akane, and I'm sorry for lying to you. I'm sorry for all my questions and nagging and I'm even apologizing for what I did four years ago. I want to start again from the beginning, and do everything right this time. This time no secrets. Will you forgive me?"

Akane stared into Ranma's pleading eyes and felt her heart melt at the sight of his sparkly blue eyes that she could swim in. Akane smiled up at him with tenderness in her eyes that made Ranma's heart leap. "I thought you'd never ask." Akane threw herself on Ranma and looped her arms around his neck in a hug. She gently rested her ear over his beating heart as he snaked his arms around her tiny waist and held her tight, making sure she wouldn't get away from him this time.

Ranma ran his long fingers through her now short hair and smelled her jasmine shampoo. "Have I ever told you how much I love girls with short hair?"

-/-

**A/N: Okay, so I lied, this was the finale. I am so sorry for not doing a proper send off to this series, it deserves better than that lame chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please no flames (I suck at writing battle scenes).**

**This was my first ever fanfiction story, so it's sort of sad to see it end, as horrible as the end may have been. Fusion is my baby, but it was also an experimental fanfiction story, where I tried a lot of new things (i.e. OCs) and new writing styles. I was thinking of doing a sequel but I'm not sure anymore.**

**I would like to give out a big thanks to all the reviewers and readers, especially tuatara who has been a very loyal reviewer and has helped me a lot with this story.**

**Make sure to read my other stories too!**

**- Ranko twin **


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